Stairs, 2002 Chromogenic Digital Print, 50" x 60"

Kerry Skarbakka                                                                                  

Constructed Visions      
April 21 – May 30, 2011                                                                   
Opening Thursday, April 21, 2011 6-9 pm

Hagedorn Gallery is pleased to present the photography and video works of Kerry Skarbakka. Kerry is a performance-based artist whose large format pieces are documents of his high-risk falls from buildings, down stairs, and from train trestles, trees, and ladders, primarily in close focus. The viewer is seduced by the pieces both through the innate human fascination in the dangerous exposure of others and because the situations Skarbakka creates echo our feelings of lack of control and firm foundation brought on by current global conditions.
With a background in rock climbing, martial arts, and theatre, the artist uses his body to act out the tensions and anxieties one feels in his or her daily dealings with the world and uses photography to disseminate these images and ideas. His theatrical pieces, ranging from 30 x 36” to 60 x 70” are reminiscent of Jeff Wall’s work in their dramatic scale, color and crisp focus, and in the construction and rehearsal of the tableau or act.
Skarbakka will be present for the artist’s reception Thursday, April 21st and will participate in a discussion of this body of work at the gallery with Michael Rooks, Saturday, April 23rd 12- 1:00 pm.
Kerry Skarbakka received his B.A. in Studio Art with an emphasis in Sculpture in 1994 from the University of Washington School of Art. In 2003 he completed his MFA in Photography from Columbia College in Chicago. Skarbakka has had solo exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, Fifty-One Fine Art Photography in Antwerp, Belgium, Irvine Contemporary in Washington DC, and Lawrimore Project in Seattle. His work has been exhibited at the North Carolina Museum of Art, the Taubman Museum of Art in Roanoke, Virginia, Ahlen Art Museum, Ahlen Germany, and the Warhol Museum. Publications include Afterimage, Art and America, ArtReview, International, and Aperture Magazine.