FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 1, 2010
SERGIO GOES: THE SEER AND THE SPECTACLE

Photography exhibition examines relationship between one artist and the natural world

Exhibition dates: September 17 – October 9, 2010
Opening reception: Friday, September 17, 5-9 pm

HONOLULU, HAWAI‘I – Peggy Chun gallery is proud to present, Sergio Goes: The Seer and the Spectacle — a tribute and celebration of the life and work of the late Brazilian-born photographer. This intimate selection of photographs features landscape and seascape photographs of Hawai‘i that have never before been exhibited.

The Seer and the Spectacle expands the viewer’s appreciation of Hawai‘i’s majestic topography beyond the stereotypical images of postcard perfection. From astonishing images of coastlines sheathed in sea foam to professional free-divers whose amphibian-like presence is at once unnerving yet sublime, Goes’ photographs enhance our awareness of the fragility inherent in much of Hawai‘i’s natural beauty.

Shot under the most extreme circumstances from light aircraft thousands of feet above the land or during free-dives without oxygen tanks more than one hundred feet beneath the ocean surface, these photographs also reflect the daring nature of the photographer, whose sense of adventure led to his untimely death. During the last three months of his life, Goes began to document the sub oceanic world of Hawai‘i’s free-divers, training and diving alongside his subjects. On July 11, 2008, Goes failed to emerge from the water during a practice dive with four friends. When his body was found a day later, it was evident that he had died from asphyxia due to drowning.

Framed within the discourse of photojournalism The Seer and the Spectacle will
highlight Goes’ uncanny ability to envelop the viewer in the landscape environment and explore complex relationships created by a photographer on a frame-by-frame basis.

His bold aerial landscapes often feature extreme angles and horizon lines that aspire to enfold the viewer into the natural world. His adeptness at juxtaposing the elements of the air, land, and sea in ambiguous yet beautiful compositions speak to his talent and allowed him to achieve his goal of creating a topographical memoir of Hawai‘i. In the process, Goes furnished us with ravishing images from a magical world that so bewitched him.

Sergio Goes was a self-taught photographer with a natural aptitude for landscape photography. Born and educated in Brazil where he received a degree in Business Administration from Getulio Vargas University in Sao Paulo, Goes was studying marketing at UCLA when he decided to move to Hawai‘i in order to compete in its 1989 Triathlon. Except for a four-year period in New York City, spent printing work for Richard Avedon, Goes made the island of Oahu his home. In the 1990s, the artist photographed almost exclusively in large format and black and white. Work from this period, while utilizing the textural potential of landscape, Sergio investigated the unique processes inherent to the photographic medium. After directing his first full-length film,
a 2000 documentary entitled Black Picket Fence, he began to embrace the art of photojournalism and regularly contributed to magazines and newspapers across the Aloha State. The aerial and underwater work in which he engaged during the last year of his life was published in Hana Hou magazine. His photography is also featured in museum collections around the world, including that of the Whitney Museum of American Art.

The Seer and the Spectacle is curated by Watsuki Harrington, Curatorial Coordinator for the Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts in Wilmington, Delaware, with generous support from TD Lobach. Special thanks to Andrea Torres of the Sergio Goes Foundation and Kimi Chun of the Peggy Chun Gallery.

Peggy Chun Gallery: 1161 Nu’uanu Avenue, Honolulu, Hawaii 96817; Phone: (808) 545-4810, Fax: (808) 545-4860. Gallery hours: T-F: 11am – 5pm, Sat: 11am – 4pm, Closed Sun & Mon, First Friday: 5pm to 9pm, Slow Art Friday: 5pm to 9pm.