Nick Shepard – Revision 1

Nick Shepard
Halftone
Digital pigment print, 38” x 48”

Nick Shepard
Prism
Digital pigment print, 20” x 24”

Nick Shepard
Vase
Digital pigment print, 16” x 20”

Nick Shepard
revision 1, installation

Axis Gallery is pleased to present “Revision 1,” an exhibition of photographs by Nick Shepard on view from April 6 through April 29, with a reception with the artist on Saturday, April 14, from 6:00–8:00pm. This is the first solo exhibition by Nick Shepard at Axis Gallery.

In “Revision 1,” Shepard displays new color still life photographs of everyday objects in playful, but refined, geometric compositions that challenge our perception of space. The photographs depict materials that hold up or patch together scenes around us but are typically hidden from view: gypsum board, 2x4s, painter’s tape, packaging materials.

Shepard has also constructed temporary walls that transform the gallery space and are themselves a part of the work. The physical revisions to the space play off the photographs, and echo the transformations that the camera makes. In some instances, Shepard depicts the gallery space itself in the photographs, continuing the processes of transformation and revision.

“Revision 1” represents a major shift from Shepard’s previous work, which used the visual language of Dutch master painting to reframe contemporary subjects. However, Shepard’s interest in looking at the overlooked persists.

Shepard’s work simultaneously obfuscates and elucidates its elements: a wall sits out of place, its structure revealed; a corner appears; a shadow is misplaced; a background is hastily retouched. A corner reappears, perhaps.

Nick Shepard grew up in New York City, graduated with a degree in Studio Art and Art History from Carleton College, and earned his MFA from the School of Visual Arts in his hometown. His work has been featured in the 2016 Oregon Biennial: The Studio Visits at Disjecta in Portland, OR, Photography Now 2015 at the Center for Photography at Woodstock. He has also appeared in Blue Sky’s Northwest Drawers, at the Wassaic Project, the Center for Fine Art Photography, in the 2011 Wallpaper* Magazine Graduate Directory, and in Lintroller and Ain’t Bad Magazines. Nick is based in Sacramento, and where he is a resident artist at Verge Center for the Arts, a member of Axis Gallery, and an Assistant Professor of Photography at Sacramento State.