LOGAN
AVA/Alliance for the Varied Arts (35 W 100 S) UPCOMING: The Chosen Children to Suffer - a mixed media art presentation by Liat Ben-Shay. Originally from Israel, Ben-Shay is a second generation Holocaust survivor, and her show captures the emotions of those directly impacted by this significant historical event. Patrons will be educated about the series of events leading up to and including the "final solution." The show's opening reception is Friday, January 12, from 7-9 p.m., and will run through Saturday, January 27th. The AVA is open Tues-Sat from 1-6 p.m. and Sat from 10-2 p.m. Educational seminars with the artist are available for groups of 8 or more. Contact the AVA at 435-753-2970 for details. To learn more about this exhibit read the article by Adam Benson of the Herald Journal.

BRIGHAM CITY
Brigham City Museum UPCOMING: The Photographic Journals of Lewis Victor by Michael Keogh AND Brigham City’s Peach Days and Abstract Portfolio by Cindy McConkie January 26th through February 24.

The Photographic Journals of Lewis Victor is an exhibition of photographs by a man that does not exist. Victor is a husband and father of 13 children, a farmer and photographer who over a three decade span created a photographic love story, dedicated to his friends and family. Victor, however, is the fictional creation of photographer Michael Keogh, a Utah State University graduate (BFA and MFA) who teaches photography at Casper College in Wyoming.

Keogh/Victor's black-and-white prints, of which there are over 350, are small, about five inches by seven inches. The content of the diminuitive prints is filled out by the metatextual comments of Keogh's literary imagination. In a grand dash of irony, Victor says the images represent "...the amazement with which I saw the subjects. It is honest work done in a time when honesty is of little value." In addition to the photographs, the exhibit includes drawings, journals and letters, fleshing out the autobiographical premise of Keogh's creation. Keogh has been a professor at Casper College in Wyoming for 15 years. He and his wife Anna own a 40-acre farm in Ogden.

Keogh share's the Brigham City Museum's space with another photographer, Cindy McConkie, of Brigham City who will exhibit 15 color photos taken during Brigham City’s 2005 and 2006 Peach Days celebrations. McConkie, her recently received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from USU, became interested in photography when she took it as a required course at the Univeristy. In addition to the images of her hometown's annual festival, her abstract portfolio of six extreme closeups of glass and water will also be on view.

BOUNTIFUL
BDAC UPCOMING: January 12 - February 9 Illustrators Invitational plus Lester B. Lee and Justin Hayward .

PARK CITY
Julie Nester Gallery UP: Beyond the Surface, an exhibition of new encaustic paintings by Robin Denevan thru January 30. The exhibition includes new paintings by Denevan, a resident of San Francisco whose work is an exploration of the relationships and dualities of atmosphere and form. These paintings focus on a pause between extremes, a place where the imagery is continuous and rhythmic, a forest grove, a river's shore, a jungle canopy. For the past five years Denevan has traveled extensively throughout Asia and Latin America with charcoal, graphite and ink as his primary media. The works' intent is to convey an emotional and visceral impression of his experiences abroad. His drawings are a journal of the strange and evocative landscapes he encounters while traveling. Though often realistic in nature, the styles shift with the changing landscapes and suggest departures for his abstract paintings.

ALSO: In conjunction with the US premiere of "Manufactured Landscapes" at Sundance 2007, the gallery will feature a selection of Edward Burtynsky’s large scale photographs, courtesy of Nicholas Metivier Gallery, Toronto. The photographs will be on display from January 18 – 28, and the film screens from the 19 - 21 of January. The documentary Manufactured Landscapes follows Burtynsky as he travels through China photographing the evidence and effects of that country’s massive industrial revolution. Burtynsky takes large-format stills of industrial landscapes: factory workers lined up to infinity, giant ships eviscerated, massive recycling dumps, expansive strip mines. The photographs allow us to meditate on our impact on the planet without being journalistic or didactic, and the film tries to do the same. “I knew from the beginning that I did not want to make a biography or even a portrait of an artist at work, and Burtynsky agreed with me,” says director Jennifer Baichwal. “We wanted the power of these photographs to be extended into the medium of film.”

The film is directed by Jennifer Baichwal, who was at Sundance in 2003 with "The True Meaning of Pictures: Shelby Lee Adams’ Appalachia." Once Manufactured Landscapes was accepted into international documentary competition at Sundance 2007, Baichwal began searching for opportunities in Park City to exhibit Edward Burtynsky’s photographs. “Ideally, we would have an exhibition with every screening because once you have seen the film I think it is crucial to see these photographs ‘in person’. Their scale and detail is extraordinary, and you can only really experience that standing in front of them. We were extremely pleased to work something out with the Julie Nester Gallery, which is a wonderful fit for this kind of work in Park City.”