Since the autumn of 2000, FLATFILEgalleries has devoted one exhibition each year to alternate photographic processes. In the first two years, while FLATFILE was located in suite 3D, the show was entitled 3D in 3D. When the gallery moved across the street, a new name for the show was needed. Critic Michael Weinstein suggested the name PHOTOWORK, which quickly morphed into FOTOWERK, and the tradition continued.

This year’s featured artists will be gallery artists Jane Calvin, Jennifer Mannebach, Liz Nielsen, and guest artist Ted Preuss, all of Chicago. Well-known Chicago digital and video artist Joan Truckenbrod will once again create a striking video installation especially for FOTOWERK.

Jane Calvin has shown at numerous venues, including The Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, The Tweed Museum, Minnesota. Her latest show was this spring in Beijing, China. Her work is contained in many collections including The Reader’s Digest Collection in New York, The Art Institute of Chicago, The Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, and the Detroit Institute of Art. Calvin’s unique vision is realized through re-photographed multiple projections of images of her own creation.

Jennifer Mannebach has spent the past several years exploring combinations of photographs, glass, wood and fiber. In this new work, she layers these assorted materials into interestingly juxtaposed three dimensional wall compositions. She has shown in a variety of venues, including a recent solo show at Indiana University, and solo show at Hyde Park Art Center, currently open

Liz Nielsen, who began showing with FLATFILE when she was still an Undergraduate at the School of the Art Institute, merges photography with installation in Glitter Galaxies. Nielsen, who is known for her creative fearlessness, has shown in various venues in Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle, and San Antonio. This is her third FOTOWERK show.

Joan Truckenbrod has been represented by FLATFILE since shortly after the gallery opened. She has shown internationally, in Germany, France, Brazil and the UK, and across the US. She has been reviewed in ARTnews and other publications, and her work is included in collections including Parade Publications, New York and ISA Holding, London. A monograph, Portfolio Collection: Joan Truckenbrod, was published by Telos, UK earlier this year.

FOTOWERK 2005 marks Chicago Photographer Ted Preuss’ first FLATFILE show. Preuss, who is self-taught, prints his hand-coated platinum images on leaves from the Bodhi tree, which is considered sacred in Buddhist countries because Buddha became enlightened beneath a Bodhi tree. Preuss, who states that his reason for making photographs is simply to portray beauty, finds that the meaning and texture of the leaves creates a perfect ground for his delicate images.