On July 18, as a part of ABSOLUT VISION 8, A World of Art in Chicago, FLATFILEphotography will present the photographs of Ann Simmons-Myers, with a video installation by Joan Truckenbrod in the project room. The show, which will open with a reception on Friday July 18th from 5 to 9pm, will close on Friday, August 22nd.

Ann Simmons-Myers began her graduate studies at the Art Institute of Chicago and finished her MFA at the University of Arizona. She has studied, taught and photographed throughout the world, and now lives, works, and teaches in Tucson, Arizona. Her work has been written about in more than 20 publications, and is contained in the collections of many museums, including The Bibliotheque National de France, the High Art Museum in Atlanta, and The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston.

The work appearing in UNDERCOVER is from a body of work entitled Shrouded. The series was born out of a frustration over censorship of the human form in public venues. Censorship has been a constant factor in Simmons-Myers life, and the work began as a reaction to the expectations and mores of society. Simmons-Myers takes her models, whom she considers collaborators in the finished pieces to remote sites and photographs them as a part of the varying landscapes. The figures are shrouded or draped in a variety of materials that contribute to the impression that they are literally a part of the site. In some images, the figures all but disappear, camouflaged against the sand, rock, or underbrush. Simmons-Myers says she views the human body as sculpture that magically turns into another form in the landscape. The images to be shown in UNDERCOVER have recently returned to the US from France, where they were shown as a solo exhibit at WICE Artspace in Paris.

Joan Truckenbrod, a School of the Art Institute MFA who is now a Professor in the school’s Art and Technology Department, has been a member of FLATFILE’s stable since the gallery opened its doors in April of 2000. Considered a pioneer in the digital world, having worked digitally since the inception of the art form, Truckenbrod has elevated digital photography to a completely new level of expression based the merger of digital video projection and dye-sublimation printing on multiple layers of various textiles, as well as a variety of other installation components. Truckenbrod continually seeks to push her medium far into new territory while retaining a strong respect for meaning and solid photographic technique. Truckenbrod’s recent work has been shown in several countries, including recent solo exhibitions in Germany, France, and the UK. Her work is contained in the Collections of Parade Publications in New York City, and ISA Holding in London, among others, and in many private collections throughout the world.