Havana A Place Out of Time. Speaking of Havana Tarver said, 'It is a society held together by ingenuity, floating on an outdated dream. These images are an attempt to reveal what is beneath the contradiction...This collection hopefully reveals a new interpretation of the city...one that creates a sense of poetry and wonder.'
'HAVANA A Place Out of Time'.
Born in Gibson, Oklahoma in 1957, Ron Tarver began his studies in journalism and graphic arts at
Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. Moving from the Midwest in 1983 to
Philadelphia, Tarver joined the staff of the Philadelphia Inquirer. During his career he has been
honored with many awards including ones from the National Society of Professional Journalists, the
National Press Photographers Association, and the World Press Photo Awards. In 1994 he was
awarded a National Geographic Magazine Development Grant for Documentary Photography. Last
year he was awarded a Pew Fellowship in the Arts, the largest fellowship available for individual artists
in this country. Art critic for The Philadelphia Inquirer, Edward Sozanski, wrote that 'Ron Tarver is
more of a narrative poet; he views the residential city at night through an Edward Hopperish lens.'
Tarver has said that he admires the work of the early pictorialists, a style characterized by a soft
focus and careful artistic compositions. Consequently, Tarver's approach is subtle, simple, and very
poetic. Writing about his work, Tarver has said that his images are 'both beautiful and provocative,'
and that the images are not 'pure documentation, but rather...suggestions of the landscape within
the landscape.'
Looking at Tarver's recent work in Havana, one is reminded of a quote in The Outline of History by
H. G. Wells: 'The world wearies of undigested fact.' Wells was writing about the closing decades of
the nineteen century and the young decades of the twentieth century. In the essay, Wells delighted
in the drifting focus from 'exact representativeness in art' to a disregard for the 'outer form.' Looking
at the images of Havana, one is keenly aware that Tarver looks for the inner forms and has digested
this city and its people. Speaking of Havana Tarver said, 'It is a society held together by ingenuity,
floating on an outdated dream. These images are an attempt to reveal what is beneath the
contradiction...This collection hopefully reveals a new interpretation of the city...one that creates a
sense of poetry and wonder.'
Tarver's photographs have been exhibited throughout the world and are in many private and public
collections including the Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Smithsonian National Museum of American
Art, The Pennsylvania State Museum, and the Minneapolis Institute of Art. His photographs are in
the corporate collection of Banana Republic, Johnson & Johnson, The Federal Reserve Bank,
Philadelphia, and Hyatt and Sheridan Hotels. Recently, the Brooklyn Museum of Art included his
photographs in their exhibition Committed to the Image: Contemporary Black Photographers. His
images are also included in the exhibition and book, 'Reflections in Black: A History of Black
Photographers,' curated by Deborah Willis.
Opening Reception: Saturday, February 9th, 2002. 6-8pm.
Dates: February 9th through March (call for info.)
Monique Goldstrom Gallery
560 Broadway (at Prince St.), Suite 303, NYC 10012
Tel:212.941.9175 Fax: 212.274.8650