Sharon Lockhart + Kelly Nipper: Two Artists in Three Takes

Sharon Lockhart + Kelly Nipper: Two Artists in Three Takes
San Francisco Art Institute
March 17 – April 29, 2000

Sharon Lockhart and Kelly Nipper choreograph and direct their subjects in their respective photographs, videos and film, sharing an interest in performance, particularly pedestrian dance of the 1960s. They have similar conceptual processes: they conceive a specific idea, framework or structure, often with live or performative elements, then make work from that system, often in series.

The exhibition included Lockhart’s photographs of subjects from Brazil and Mexico, and her ikebana flower series and her classic Goshogaoka film of young Japanese girls doing basketball drills. Nipper was represented by two early series that referenced modernist architecture and design, as well as a video of a performance with dancers interacting with pillows on a platform.

Ultimately, the pairing Lockhart and Nipper demonstrated how their shared sensibilities and equally spare aesthetics belie the complex processes of their carefully conceived, specifically structured and meticulously executed images. Their minimal vocabularies achieve maximal effect: one is seduced by the visual appeal of the work, then subsequently comprehends its complexity.