Talented regional photographer, Andrew Borowiec, will be exhibiting his newest work at The Bonfoey Gallery. As part of our Artist of the Month series, this exhibition, titled Nights in Provence, will be on view in our street level gallery from February 22 through March 20, 2010. Andrew Borowiec would like to cordially invite you to an opening reception Friday, February 26, from 5:00 to 7:00pm, at The Bonfoey Gallery.
These stirring photographs were taken within a 50 mile radius of a 17th Century olive mill located in the Var Province in the south of France. The mill, a refurbished home purchased by the artist’s mother about 10 years ago, was a place visited by Borowiec regularly. The area was familiar to him as he had grown up and worked in cities along the Mediterranean. A landscape steeped in such beauty and culture was a subject he contemplated for many years. Inspiration came one evening on the way to dinner in a village just north of the mill. Unfortunately, Borowiec not having been a night photographer, or a person regularly operating on that schedule, put the idea on hold. Visions of an ancient, albeit convoluted, landscape occupied Borowiec’s thoughts and dreams. When his mother decided to sell the mill, in the summer of 2009, Borowiec realized his impetus was at hand; he began to research and test night photography, and prolonged exposures. He flew into Paris and assumed his new schedule. After some days and effort, he was acclimated to a night schedule and out shooting in the village streets until 4:00AM. The lighting in each photograph is true to the scene and not supplemented by Borowiec. Potted plants, interior lights through sheer curtained windows, and narrow alleys, give the viewer a feeling of intimacy, even though no figures appear in any of the photographs.
Andrew Borowiec has a MFA in Photography from Yale University School of Art. In 2009 he received a Summer Research Fellowship from, and was promoted to Distinguished Professor at, the University of Akron. He is a three time recipient of the Ohio Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship and a recipient of the Council’s Artist’s Project Grant in 2001. In 1998 he received a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship. Borowiec has also received two grants from the National Endowment for the Arts. His work has been published nationally including his book Cleveland: The Flats, the Mill, and the Hills, by Columbia College in Chicago, 2008 and The George Gund Foundation Annual Report in 2003. Museums and galleries across the country have shown Andrew Borowiec’s work such as The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Columbus Museum of Art, The Houston Center for Photography, The Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, and OK Harris Gallery in New York. Borowiec has also shown his work internationally in Paris, Arles, Prague and Budapest. His work is found in many collections such as The Akron Art Museum, The Cleveland Museum of Art, The Columbus Museum of Art, Chicago Art Institute, Houston Museum of Fine Arts, and the Smithsonian Museum of American Art.
There are upcoming exhibitions of Borowiec’s Ohio photographs at The Akron Art Museum from February 20 to May 30 and his Cleveland scenes at The Cleveland Museum of Art this June.
For more information about the ANDREW BOROWIEC – NIGHTS IN PROVENCE, or upcoming exhibitions, please contact The Bonfoey Gallery, 216.621.0178, or visit the company web site at www.bonfoey.com
Be sure to tune in to WVIZ for 
Don’t miss Bonfoey Gallery’s Conversations with Mr. O’Sickey moderated by Fred Griffith, Wednesday, November 11th at 6pm! Its going to be a fun evening with a Cleveland legend!
