{ currents } first thin g s
cooltur E ch a ins aw w or k in ’ it sports bod y
made in the fade
Sun-baked characters grit and bare it in an artist’s desert GAZE PhotoS: Words:
Stefanie Schneider Dean Lamanna
German photographer Stefanie Schneider pursued the American Dream through 1970s road movies and Golden State roadmaps—finally gathering her camera, a bag of expired Polaroid film and some daring Los Angeles friends to seek splendid desolation in Southern California’s high desert. The resulting series of washed-out, offbeat images, 29 Palms, CA, forms the basis of her show “Stranger than Paradise,” opening January 14 at Scott White Contemporary Art in La Jolla. “I’ve always had an affinity for wide-open, slightly decaying spaces,” says Schneider, whose most striking frames set orange-wigged actress Radha Mitchell (Silent Hill, The Crazies) adrift in an arid blandscape. “There’s so much space in the desert for people to lose or possibly fulfill their dreams, and there’s nobody to watch or judge.” scottwhiteart.com
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pacificsandiego.com
[January 2012]