Local fine art photographer Josh Garrick’s passion for Greece has resulted in a partnership between the country’s most-regarded museum and the American who loves the country. Garrick has been extended a recent invitation to showcase his photographic work highlighting treasured Greek monuments at the National Archeological Museum in Athens, Greece.
This is not only an enormous honor for Garrick, whose passion for Greek culture spans his lifetime, but it now gives him the distinction of being the first American in history to exhibit at the museum. The exhibit, Seeking the Ancient Kallos, will be shown Sept. 12, 2013 through Jan. 8, 2014.
The works will highlight often unseen details of illustrious Greek treasures including some of the most famous sculptures of history. Garrick received unprecedented access to many of the monuments during his more than 40 trips to the country, having traveled to Greece as a professor with his students from the prestigious School of Visual Arts in New York City and on his own as a professional artist.
The National Archeological Museum, which ranks among the top 10 museums of the world, will feature Garrick’s black and white photography of Greek monuments printed on aluminum.
“Josh Garrick’s artworks are rich in both content and form – there are few richer subjects than the genesis of culture represented by classical Greece,” said Richard D. Colvin, Director of the Eustis Museum of Art. He continued, “Garrick marries this with visual evidence of contemporary restoration, and creates strong compositions, some with stunning contrast and others with delicate texture. Add this to a new outputting technique — dibond aluminum — and the exhibition is both classic and innovative.”
“My love of all-things-Greek comes from the fact that what we most treasure in Western Civilization – our legacy of art, history, theatre, philosophy, and government – ALL comes from that singular place and time in history,” Garrick said. “Out of respect for those geniuses who lived in Athens 2,500 years ago, I feel a ‘religious responsibility’ when I photograph their ancient statues and monuments. At this moment in history, it is more important than ever for all of us to understand the real ‘wealth’ of Greece – the inestimable ‘wealth’ of Greece is located within the walls of the National Archaeological Museum, which celebrates that ancient genius.”
Garrick, a celebrated arts writer in Central Florida, whose photographic work has been published in Archaeology magazine, the New York Post and on the cover of the New York Gallery Guide, adds these works to the thousands of photographs he’s captured over the span of his career. The photographs epitomize the history of Greece and the progression of art in western civilization.
