Atomic Overlook No. 1

We are so excited to feature Atomic Overlook by Los Angeles-based photographer Clay Lipsky alongside our February/March exhibition, Internal Ballistics: The Photography of Deborah Bay and Sabine Pearlman. In our secondary exhibition space on our stairwell, Americans train a tourist’s gaze on the spectacle of a-bomb testing. Lipsky’s photomontages blend 1950’s military photographs with contemporary scenes of agape vacationers. Darkly humorous, clear-eyed, and voyeuristic in its own right, this series challenges us to see re-historicize both the atomic era and our own moment.

Atomic Overlook No. 2

Please join us on Saturday March 22nd at 2pm for a special afternoon Artist Talk and Reception with Clay.

Atomic Overlook No. 16

About Atomic Overlook –

I was raised during the height of the Cold War, when the threat of nuclear war loomed between two superpowers. The dramatized depictions in TV and film of such an apocalyptic demise both intrigued and scared me as a child. Yet the actual historical record of the atomic age was full of antiquated, black and white images that seemed dated and a world away. This series re-contextualizes a legacy of atomic tests in order to keep the reality of our post-atomic era fresh and omnipresent. It also speaks to the current state of the world and the voyeuristic culture we live in. Imagine if the advent of the atomic era occurred during today’s information age. Tourists would gather to view bomb tests, at the ”safe” distances used in the 1950’s, and share the resulting cell phone photos online. Broadcast media would regurgitate such visual fodder ad nauseam, bringing new levels of desensitization. The threat of atomic weapons is as great as ever, but it is a hidden specter. Nuclear proliferation has gained even more obscurity through the ”rogue” factions that can now possess them. Meanwhile America’s stockpile of weapons continues to be modernized and will probably never cease to exist. I can only hope that mankind will never again suffer the wrath of such a destructive force, but it is clear that the world would not hesitate to watch.

Atomic Overlook No. 10

Clay has created a publication to accompany this creative and darkly humorous work. Copies are available at the gallery for $20. Stop into the gallery to pick up your copy, email or call and we can mail it to you.

Atomic Overlook Catalogue

About Clay Lipsky –

Atomic Overlook No. 19

Clay Lipsky is a fine art photographer and Emmy Award winning graphic designer based in Los Angeles, CA. His artwork has been published and exhibited internationally, most notably with Esquire Russia, Pink Art Fair Seoul, Wired Italia, Ballarat Foto Bienalle, Lishui China Photo Festival, PhotoLA and the Annenberg Space for Photography.

To see more of Clay’s fabulously creative works, log onto his website.