(Editor’s note: This just in from Rostel Gallery in Dunsmuir, where Rika Noda and John Rickard continue to offer great workshops and art exhibitions. The Jefferson Agrarian is honored to support their efforts, and encourages Jeffersonians to do the same.)
Rostel Photography Gallery is pleased to present the color photographs of Brian Lesteberg’s acclaimed series “Raised to Hunt” from September 6th through October 30th, 2008.
The opening reception will be on Saturday, September 6th 6-9pm in conjunction with a live music performance by Mt. Shasta’s Angelina Rae.
Brian Lesteberg’s “Raised to Hunt” portrays an intimate portrait of the people, places and accoutrements within the annual hunting ritual of rural North Dakota. We see quiet images of duck decoys, night-lit cold storage buildings, empty tables at the local restaurant, hunting blinds, and solitary individuals crossing a snow-covered field underneath a broad swatch of blue sky, wading through a slough, and field dressing a goose on an expansive prairie field.
These formally beautiful photographs perfectly capture the understated emotion of a community and familiar activity within the broad American heartland.
Mr. Lesteberg’s subtle work stands in contrast to the traditional hunting “trophy photography”. The images of empty spaces, boundless grassland, introspective individuals and the broader tableaux of hunting signifiers embody not the typically exceptionally brief moment of a kill, but emphasize the surroundings and broader hours spent in preparation, waiting and conclusion. “Raised to Hunt” chronicles a place and increasingly diminishing activity largely unrepresented within the world of fine art in a visually striking, but emotionally nuanced manner.
“Raised to Hunt” has earned Mr. Lesteberg widespread acclaim, including being named a Finalist for the Santa Fe Prize for Photography, earning a MCAD / Jerome Emerging Artist Fellowship, being featured in March of this year as one of PDN’s 2007 “Our Choice of New and Emerging Photographers to Watch” and will be included in “25 Under 25: Up-and-Coming American Photographers” to be published in 2008.
Brian Lesteberg was born in Fargo, North Dakota in 1981 and currently lives and works in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His images are in the permanent collections of The Museum of Contemporary Photography and Milwaukee Art Museum. The artist earned his Bachelor of Fine Art, Photography from The Minneapolis College of Art and Design in 2004.
2 responses so far ↓
1 Herr Claus // Sep 2, 2008 at 3:50 pm
I like Lesteberg’s work. It’s fine art for libertarian-minded gun owners. And his sense of composition and color doesn’t hurt either.
2 John Rickard // Sep 7, 2008 at 11:23 am
Thank you all for your support. We brought Brian Lesteberg to our gallery to show that everyones life has art in it. Hunting can be a way of life, filled with family values, heritage and tradition. On a gallery wall a hunting theme can be sensationalized and viewed as art. Brian Lesteberg is only 25 years old but he is wise to find art in his life. This work is authentic because of the personal connection the artist has with the subject matter. We encourage all artist and art lovers to see this show.
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