Painterly Polaroids
by Nicole Reinhold Martin
June 8th, 2023 - April 2024
Bacon Gallery
This exhibit focuses on a series of Nicole Reinhold Martin’s hand-altered Polaroids that were recently acquired by the Museum. It also highlights the Museum’s efforts to preserve and digitize the original art objects we have in the permanent collection.
Having created these works in the early 1990s, Martin states that “many of the places I recorded no longer exist because of progress or change. Therefore, seeing these images brings the viewer back to a period of time when the world looked a bit different than today.” The works not only record how the Erie landscape has changed, but also reflect the technological advances in photography. At the time, this format was one of the more immediate ways to produce a photograph. For some, there is a nostalgia for the iconic Polaroid that holds a tactile memory.
Disrupting the boundaries of photography and painting, Martin made each image unique through her physical interaction with the surface. The imprint from the pressure of the stylus is visible. Often using a hot car or hairdryer to keep the emulsion fluid, the gestures imply the small window of time for this intervention.
“This process was as exciting as the final result. I chose a scene, took the photo and when I moved the emulsion with a stylus, new and unexpected forms often appeared. It was magical to me. As time went on, I often added watercolor paints or pastels which added to the transformation of the images….
I worked in this manner in order to express everyday life in a playful and lyrical way. Signs and logos lost their pedestrian meaning and took on a life of their own. Form, color, line and content interacted to expand every narrative. Whether I tried to amuse, to mystify, or interpret, I found unlimited possibilities in this process.”
— Nicole Reinhold Martin
