ERIC CATO
abstract fine art photography for commercial spaces
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Statement
"When you look at a wall spotted with stains or with a mixture of stones . . . you may discover: landscapes, mountains, figures in action; or strange faces, an endless variety of objects . . . like the sound of bells in whose jangle you may find any name or word you choose to imagine.” – Leonardo da Vinci, The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci
“We never look at just one thing; we are always looking at the relation between things and ourselves… Every image embodies a way of seeing.” – John Berger, Ways of Seeing
About the Imago Project
Imago ignata is a Latin term meaning 'unknown image'... a pattern of colors, shapes that have no correspondence to the world of external reality. The photographs in the Imago project are of random paint, graffiti, faded handbills, and weathered surfaces, found on walls, lampposts, and doors in the streets of New York, Brooklyn, Los Angeles and other cities.
Nonrepresentational imagery has been seen as the domain of painting. By photographing an object and cropping out any reference to its physical context, it is “abstracted” and transformed into an intangible realm of color, energy, mood, and mystery. I use a camera to make these images and have come to think in terms of the individual image, rather than whether it is a painting, a collage, or a photograph. I photograph commonplace, and consequently, “invisible” surfaces as a means of probing the imagination.
Eric Cato
Bio
I am a visual artist and use a camera to make the images. While I have had some formal training, I consider myself to be self-taught. Both of my parents were artists and I had the opportunity to listen and participate in discussions about art and creativity with many of their friends, including photographers: Richard Avedon, Ernst Haas, Irving Penn, Hiro and painters Michael Goldberg, Larry Rivers, and Norman Blum.
While I have worked as an editorial and commercial photographer, primarily in celebrity portraits, publicity, and fashion, I now concentrate exclusively on my personal work.
2003 – Invited to join the Soho Photo Gallery, a photographers’ cooperative, in Tribeca, New York.
2005 – Represented by the Michael Ingbar Gallery of Architectural Art in Soho, New York.
Other Listings
My work may also be viewed at the Artists' Space/Irving Sandler Artists File Online, and Art-Exchange.com websites.
Photo by Andrea Narins
Select Exhibits
July 2010 – Two large prints installed at the Intercontinental Hotel: Times Square at 300 West 44th St. in Manhattan; Wall #3 in the ground floor restaurant and Wall #23 facing the Business Suite.
February-March 2008 – 31st Annual Small Works group show. 80 Washington Square East Gallery - New York
August 2005 – Group Show. Open Your Eyes @ Contemporary Project Space 32 (CPS) – an exhibit of digital images - New York
June 2005 – Group Show. Art Taste – an official exhibit of the city of Bordeaux, France
April 2005 – Solo Show. Imago: Recent Images / Soho Photo Gallery - New York
February 2005 – Two-man Show with photographer Andrea Narins. From the Imago Project @ kanvas lounge/gallery - Chelsea.
November 2004 – Solo Show. Imago: Recent Images / Soho Photo Gallery - New York.
February 2004 – Solo Show. Industrial Paint & Façade: Ten Images / Soho Photo Gallery - New York.
July 1977 – Juried Show, Parish Art Museum, Southampton, NY – 3rd place (Juror: Irving Penn).
Community Involvement / Special Projects
In 2004, 2005 and 2006 – Benefit Exhibition and Sale: Night of 1,000 Drawings, Artists Space, NY
Education
1970-71: New York University, School of Film & Television.
1970: Parson’s School of Design, Printmaking.
1964-65: Long Island University, Southampton, Val Telberg: The Image in Photography and Film.
© Eric Cato 2011