Gerhard Clausing
bio
Gerhard (Gerry) Clausing was already fascinated by photography as a youngster, initially using a simple Bilora Boy camera, and then acquiring a keener vision and better equipment as time went by.
His images are metaphorical; he invites the viewer to participate in the creative process by inspiring imaginative reactions to his images. Tension, distortions, and ambiguous juxtapositions ask the viewers to find their own personal meanings. The images hover between the conscious and the unconscious, the real and the unreal, with a touch of the surreal.
Gerry earned a Ph.D. in literature and linguistics at UC Berkeley. While on his academic journey culminating in a tenured full professorship at USC, his interest in photography grew alongside his numerous academic achievements. Newspapers including the Swiss Tages-Anzeiger and book publishers, from Houghton Mifflin to Heinle/Thompson, showcased a variety of his images in Sunday supplements and university textbooks, including three of his own innovative educational programs (Deutsch natürlich!, Interaktion, Übergänge).
Southern California inspired Gerry to further his visual studies at Otis Art Institute, Brooks Institute, and the Los Angeles Center of Photography, from which he received a certificate in lighting. He used his images in his administrative activities as well as in his teaching, especially in his drama performance courses, providing motivation and feedback for his students. Gerry has received encouragement and mentoring from several outstanding photographers and curators, especially from Gerd Ludwig, David Alan Harvey, Douglas Kirkland, Mary Ellen Mark, Peter Bialobrzeski, Duane Michals, Julia Dean, Ken Merfeld, Ralph Gibson, Duane Michals, Douglas Stockdale, Aline Smithson, Klaus Honnef, and Kristin Dittrich.
Recently leaving academia, Gerry is focusing full time on his photography. His images have appeared online at The Los Angeles Times (latimes.com), The LA Weekly (laweekly.com), Review Plays (reviewplays.com), Curve Wire (curvewire.com), Diffraction Phenomenon, and Lenscratch (lenscratch.com). He has won awards in competitions and his work has been displayed on the B&W Magazine website, Black and White Spider Awards, and in the PhotoPlace Gallery (Vermont), Kiernan Gallery, Julia Dean Gallery (Venice and Hollywood), Perfect Exposure Gallery (Los Angeles), Irvine Fine Arts Center, and Art Basel Miami, among others.
Recent Exhibitions and Publications
2019
Celebrated publishing more than 125 online articles and reviews; contributed to the conversion of PhotoBook Journal and SoCal PX Journal to more accessible magazine formats. Curated three more online group exhibitions: Human Nature, Living Nature, and Ambiguities. Placed more images in other exhibitions.
2018
Curator, The Abstract Visions Exhibition, SCPX, October 2018. Published over 70 book reviews and articles since Fall 2016, widely read internationally. - Two images each included in Connections and Contemporary Landscape, SoCal PhotoExchange, curated by Douglas Stockdale.- Completed Master Curating Seminar with Klaus Honnef and Shift School, State Museum, Bonn, Germany, May 2018. Completed two Curating Seminars with Kristin Dittrich, Shift School, at Anzenberger, Vienna, Austria, April 2018. Two images exhibited at The Surreal Show, at Specto Art Space in Virginia, March & April 2018.
2017
Appointed Editor, SoCal PhotoExchange, and Associate Editor, The PhotoBook Journal, ranked #1. Wrote numerous book reviews, articles, and announcements. - All Media 2017 Show, Irvine Fine Arts Center - one image exhibited.
2016
Selected for membership in the Los Angeles Art Association (LAAA). Member of the LAAAb Collector Group. - Guest photographer and chronicler, Premium Collectors Annual Meeting, Worms, Germany, April 2016. - "Unself No.13" selected for the LACP Third Annual Members Exhibition by January Parkos Arnall of the Hammer Museum, July-August 2016.- Contributing author, The PhotoBook and The Photo Exchange, beginning August 2016.
2015
"Capturing more than meets the eye” = Article on Gerhard Clausing by David Hansen. Daily Pilot / Los Angles Times Weekend, p. R3, October 11, 2015.
"Selfscapes”: 15 images published in Blur Magazine, Issue 42 (April/May), pp. 211-228, edited by Michael Kirchoff. - ”Selfscapes” – Open Show LA Presentation at LACP, April 15.
LACP Group Exhibit at Photo Independent, Raleigh Studios, Hollywood, CA, in conjunction with Paris Photo LA, May 1-3.
2014
”Visual Mixtape: New Photography” – Los Angeles Center of Photography,
4 photographs from the series Selfscapes, September 26 – October 24, 2014
LACP Benefit Gala and Auction, Hollywood, CA – September 2014.
Lenscratch – Featured artist with 20 images from “Facescapes” and “Bodyscapes,”
July 31, 2014. - 20th Juried Exhibition, Griffin Museum of Photography, Massachusetts, gallery and Exhibition Catalogue: “Indelicate Reflection”
2013
Le Journal de la Photographie – Original article, “Ralph Gibson and Me,” with 20 of my photographs, May 3, 2013 - “Eye on the Street” – Kiernan Gallery, Lexington, VA, Exhibition Catalogue Vol. 20, p. 35: “Near Encounter” - “International Street Photography” – Julia Dean Gallery, Hollywood, CA, five images exhibited in the gallery, ten on the website.
2012
Art Basel Miami, in conjunction with David Alan Harvey, Abba Fine Art Gallery, Four images, November 2012
“Emerging L.A. Photographers” – Perfect Exposure Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; 2 images
"Alternate Realities" – Photoplace Gallery, VT
Clausing, Gerhard: Grimm Mysteries, Obscure Tales, Vol. 1. Hollywood, CA: A&I Publishing.
2011
Black and White Spider Awards Honoree and featured on website, 2011
“ZIP Code” – Julia Dean Gallery, Hollywood, CA: eight images
“The Beverly Hills Psychiatrist” – Stage photographs published in latimes.com, laweekly.com, reviewplays.com, latheatre.com, curvewire.com
2010
”Self Searching” – Photoplace Gallery, VT - “Magic Silver” – Eagle Gallery, Murray State University, KY - “4 by 14” – Julia Dean Gallery, Venice, CA
Diffraction Phenomenon – Featured artist, February 2010