The Frieda and Roy Furman Gallery is located adjacent to the lobby of the Walter Reade Theater. Open daily 1:30 to 6pm. There are ongoing exhibitions and the space is also used to host after-party events.
James Starkman Let Go: Moment in Movement
Jan 22 - Feb 16th
Reception for the artist is on Feb 4th 6pm - 8pm
Let Go: Moment in Movement captures the serendipitous photographic journey of James
Starkman as he followed a group of parkour practitioners (known as traceurs) training in various
urban environments in and around New York City. This is the artist’s first solo exhibition.
Parkour (pronounced “par-core”), also
known as l'art du déplacement (the art of displacement) or freerunning, is a physical discipline
that originated in France; parkour involves training to overcome any obstacle within one’s path
by adapting one’s movements to the environment. What began for the artist as an exploration
of the visual elements of parkour movement deepened into a personal inquiry into the emotional
and spiritual resonance of the images he spontaneously caught on film. The result is this
arresting collection of “moments” in movement, simultaneously revealing aspects of both artist
and subjects as they “let go.”
In both their technical and thematic concerns, the works comprising this exhibition draw
inspiration from varied sources, including the Belgian surrealist René Magritte and his technique
of portraying ordinary objects in unfamiliar spaces to suggest new meanings through poetic
juxtapositions. Taken together, the pieces demonstrate Starkman’s fascination with the nascent
physical, emotional and spiritual potentialities suggested by the interplay of these contrasting
elements and trace the unfolding of his discovery of unexpected beauty.
At it’s core, Let Go: Moment in Movement is a visual meditation on the rich metaphoric
possibilities suggested by moments of framed kinetic movement. As the traceurs bound over
walls and dive down staircases, they begin to redefine their relationship to their environment.
As they commit to action they let go. Obstacles become opportunities, fear becomes surrender,
and confinement becomes freedom - not only for the traceurs, but for the viewer entering the
action. With these moments of transformation, Starkman challenges us to examine our own
physical and emotional relationship to the images.
