Bill Armstrong’s Film Noir at ClampArt New York

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© Bill Armstrong, Untitled (Film Noir #1433)” 2012, Courtesy of ClampArt, New York City

Last week I was in New York and lucky enough to have an afternoon to visit the burgeoning art galleries around Chelsea. Goodness that’s one wealthy set of streets! There is money in art, even if not much of it reaches the artist while they are alive.

One of the most eye-catching exhibitions was in ClampArt, a small gallery tucked away from the super-rich which was featuring photographer Bill Armstrong and his most recent work Film Noir.

Mr Armstrong sort of replays Film Noir scenes from time gone by in super-saturated colour form by building little photo montages and shapes which he then photographs very close up, using the infinity setting on his camera. The results are this blurry abstraction that allows you to imagine a little and create your own interpretation of what’s going on.

I absolutely adored the colours he created in his work and found his technique fascinating, a refreshing change from some of the grimmer, hyper-realist photography that’s been so popular recently. I thought these might bring a little brightness into our chilly and grey Tuesday here in the UK (if you are reading this somewhere warm and sunny, we don’t want to know thank you…)

 Bill Armstrong, Untitled (Film Noir #1418)" 2011, Courtesy of ClampArt, New York City© Bill Armstrong, Untitled (Film Noir #1436)" 2012, Courtesy of ClampArt, New York City

@Bill Armstrong, Untitled (Film Noir #1418)” 2011, Courtesy of ClampArt, New York City
© Bill Armstrong, Untitled (Film Noir #1436)” 2012, Courtesy of ClampArt, New York City

Aren’t they great? I think the top image is best, it reminds me of one of our favourite style icons, Michelle Obama in one of her signature fitted shift dresses, but feel free to imagine your own stories here of what’s going on!

© Bill Armstrong, Untitled (Film Noir #1408)" 2011, Courtesy of ClampArt, New York City© Bill Armstrong, Untitled (Film Noir #1405)" 2011, Courtesy of ClampArt, New York City

© Bill Armstrong, Untitled (Film Noir #1408)” 2011, Courtesy of ClampArt, New York City
© Bill Armstrong, Untitled (Film Noir #1405)” 2011, Courtesy of ClampArt, New York City

The ClampArt gallery is at 521-531 West 25th Street, ground floor and is open Tuesday-Saturday, check website for details and more images from Mr Armstrong’s lovely show, which is on until April 6th.

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© Bill Armstrong, Untitled (Film Noir #1429)” 2012, Courtesy of ClampArt, New York City

2 Comments

  • squeever says:

    Those are beautiful. I’m imagining that they’re very large prints – is that right?

  • Amanda says:

    The top image was poster size, a bit bigger than the rest, the remaining ones were large-ish, but still would fit on an obliging wall at home, as I like to dream……A

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