In his second exhibition at Staley-Wise Gallery, Joel Grey celebrates his long time passion and appreciation of nature’s floral mysteries.
Familiar flowers, sunflowers, lilies, irises, tulips, and more are transformed through his eye and camera lens to fantastic forms. They range from the abstracted and subtle to the exaggerated and dramatic. Colors are both vivid and subdued, highly saturated and playful, mysterious and sensual, chic and fanciful. These images transcend their subject and provide a powerful impact.
Influenced and inspired over the years by Georgia O’Keeffe and Robert Mapplethorpe, Grey’s project took him back to his childhood memories of searching in the woods near his family home in Ohio for “Lilies of the Valley”, the subject of his first professional photograph in 2012.
This exhibition also celebrates Grey’s new monograph The Flower Whisperer, which is published by powerHouse Books.
Joel Grey is also an award winning actor and director in his spare time.