Zoetrope: A Photographic Celebration of Celluloid Cinema

A Solo Exhibition by Alexa Frangos

Virtual Artist's Discussion: Thursday, September 17, 2020, 7 p.m. (check our website for details)

In this series, Frangos has taken found imagery from films, along with elements of projection and household objects, and created constructed collages. The act of photographing these constructions transforms the scraps of paper and other objects by distilling the repetition, illusion and other hallmarks of cinema which they contain. The work is both a eulogy to the dying art of celluloid cinema and a celebration of its essence. 

"During my adolescence, any ounce of free time I had was spent with movies. I read about movies voraciously, watched them at home and immersed myself in them at my local cineplex. Films were my higher reality, the primary object of my dreams and reveries. Growing up in the era of light through celluloid, going to the movies felt like a tactile experience. I learned to spot the “cigarette burns” that signaled the end of a film reel, and I would often try to catch a glimpse of the projectionist cueing the new reel. Today, these cans of celluloid are jettisoned in favor of streaming and digital projection."
~ Alexa Frangos

Alexa Frangos is a Chicago-based photographer. She studied Visual Communications and Photography at Washington University in St. Louis before receiving her M.F.A. from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where her multimedia work focused on representations of women in film. Her current work consists of photographs that reference narrative, domestic life, self-portraiture and early cinema.

Gallery Hours with Social Distancing Protocols: Fridays & Saturdays, 12-6 p.m.; Sundays, 12-5 p.m. (Only four socially distanced patrons at a time; masks are required.)