All images are available for exhibit, license or sales.
Contact: bsosin@aol.com
Shooting the streets and sidewalks of Chicago in color, at any time of day and night, through the windows of his car when heavy and clinging rains are falling, Bill Sosin captures the miasma in which we are enveloped at those moments. If we are not too drenched and assaulted by the wind and the chill to notice, such scenes can have a rough yet melting beauty for us, with which Sosin is enthralled.
As is the case with nearly all photographic projects that deploy natural elements to efface the world’s delineation, Sosin’s images run the gamut between those in which his subjects are discernible through the veil that clothes them, and those in which his subjects are entirely dissolved by their coating. He is successful with both strategies and their gradations, because in all cases the diffraction and reflection of light, and the fragmentation of shapes produced by the raindrops create a kaleidoscopic array of colored forms that delights the eye through its endless unfamiliar variations and yet remains at a distance from the viewer, too unruly to be possessed.
In an image on the more figurative side, a wet snow falls on a street being crossed by a charcoal gray figure who has been reduced to a silhouette; he steps forward surrounded by muted green, pink and gray pools and patches bathed in an atmosphere of dirty black snowflakes. At Sosin’s most abstract, the scene beyond his car’s window has been totally occluded by a blue sheet of rain broken by black holes opening to deep night, and starburst flashes of white light, an astral vision. Sosin’s Chicago is harsh and alluring, a place where beauty and sublimity clash and join, and he affirms it. (Michael Weinstein, New City)
For Immediate Release 2019:
I will have 4 images in this group show and will be present for the opening. You are invited!
"Awareness"
November 2 - January 4
Opening Reception: November 2, 6-8pm
dnj Gallery
3015 Ocean Park Boulevard
Santa Monica, CA 90405
tel: (310) 315-3551
office@dnjgallery.net
https://www.dnjgallery.net/upcoming.html
For Immediate Release 2018:
Chicago Art Source / Salon Show of Gallery Artists
Exhibit runs through January, 2019.
1871 N. Clybourn Avenue, 2nd Level, Chicago
Free parking across the street.
For Immediate Release 2017:
Chicago Art Source / Salon Exhibit
A group show / 50 Gallery Artists, Through January, 2017
1871 N. Clybourn Avenue, 2nd Level
Chicago, IL 60614
2015 Listings:
Opening August 25th
CITY RAIN, Photographs by Bill Sosin
South Suburban College
Photo Four Gallery
Art & Design Department, South Suburban College
15800 South State Street, South Holland, IL 60473
Gallery Hours: Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Gallery is closed on College holidays and weekends.
Additional information (708)596-2000, ext. 2445
August 25th through October 7th
Closing reception on Wednesday, October 7th at 12 noon
_________________________________
JUNE : FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE : unchARTed
Chicago’s historic Motor Row is getting some zoom from 11 artists who are bringing energy and experimentation to this near-south neighborhood.
Once home to auto showrooms and Chess Recording Studios, this stretch of South Michigan Avenue is being re-invigorated and re-imagined byartists and entrepreneurs
Motor Row Gallery will be the epicenter of a celebration of art and rebirth called unchARTed. It will feature 11 emerging and established artists, along with live music, food and craft beer from Motor Row Brewery.
Opening Reception:
Friday, June 12th, 5pm- 9pm
There will be live music performed by the acoustic duo, Pearl Morning, complimentary refreshments and wine, and craft beer from Motor Row Brewery.
Opening weekend:
Saturday, June 13th, 11am-6pm
Sunday, June 14th, 12pm – 5pm
LOCATION: Motor Row Gallery
2345 S. Michigan Ave
Chicago, IL 60616
Motor Row, once the home of the largest auto-mall in the U.S. and major recording studios, including Chess Records, is undergoing an urban Renaissance and quickly becoming one of Chicago’s trendiest neighborhoods. Motor Row Gallery’s non-traditional space is a uniquely apt setting for this creatively rich pop-up show and sale.
The unchARTed art exhibit at Motor Row Gallery will showcase 11 artists who leap into unknown territory to share their neo-expressionistic visions in mixed media painting, collage, clay and photography.
ARTISTS:
Amy Van Winkle / www.amyvanwinkle.com
Bill Sosin / www.billsosin.com
Crystal Neubauer / www.crystalneubauer.com
Cynthia Lee / www.cynthiajlee.com
Dianne Martia / www.diannemartia.com
Eve Ozer / www.eveozer.com
Janet Lewandowski / www.janetlewandowski.com
James Edward Scherbarth / www.jamesedwardscherbarth.com
Nancy Pirri / www.nancy-pirri.com
Pam Peterson / www.pampetersonart.com
Turkan Ilkdemirci / www.turkansart.blogspot.com
NEW IMAGE CATEGORY : Fire & Water / Fata Morgana. These new images evolved from my experimentation with video stills (shot from playback) and new abstract photographs. As I was assembling images in both categories, I happened to blend one of each. This gave a unique look to the imagery and seduced my eye into roaming the mix. I am drawn in by the color, the interplay of the imagery and the seemingly endless textures. The overall effect to me is like looking at a fabricated mirage, a digital Fata Morgana.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 2014:
See the review of my work at Chicago Art Source gallery by Micheal Weinstein of New City.
http://art.newcity.com/2014/12/08/review-bill-sosinchicago-art-source/
Exhibit: Translucence
November 7th - December 31st
Opening November 7th 6-8 pm
Chicago Art Source
1871 N. Clybourn
Chicago, IL 60614
Winner at the 7th Annual Photography Masters Cup with:
1st Place - Outstanding Achievement in Silhouette | Heavy Weather
Nominee in Fine Art | Watercolor
The 7th Annual awards received 7,416 entries from 79 countries and
honored 274 title awards and 864 nominees at the Nomination & Winners
Photoshow webcast Saturday, May 3, 2014.
www.photomasterscup.com/gallery/index.php?gaid=15
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 2013:
Transformations: The Ordinary Made Extraordinary
PhotoPlace Gallery Exhibition, Middlebury, VT
December 3rd — December 28th 2013
Fear and Loathing Exhibit
Kate Ware, Curator of Photography
New Mexico Museum of Art
Fall 2013
8th Annual Black & White Spider Awards Nominee
DNJ GALLERY, Bergamot Station, Santa Monica
PROPER SOULS, Photographs by Bill Sosin
Opening Reception: March 2, 2013, 6-8 pm.
Through April 13, 2013
Hauser Gallery / Chicago
WIND & WATER, Photographs by Bill Sosin
Opening Reception: January 25, 2013, 6-9 pm exhibit runs through March 22, 2013.
Out of Con(text)
...a group show featuring works by Michael Eastman, Richard Gilles, Cynthia Greig, Annie Seaton,
BILL SOSIN, Tom Stone, David Trautrimas and Dylan Vitone
July 23 - September 3, 2011
Carol Battrell
cbattrell@aol.com
847 256-1400
COLLECTIONS
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, LA, CA
Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA
Harris Bank, Chicago, IL
EXHIBITS
DNJ Gallery
March 13, 2010—May 1, 2010
Night Lights
154½ N. La Brea Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90036
323.931.1311
office@dnjgallery.net
May 17, 2009, Opening
The Grammar of Landscape, Eleven Photographic Visions of Illinois,
Southern Illinois Art Gallery, Rend Lake, IL. Exhibit travels for two years throughout the state of Illinois.
February 13 – March 24, 2009.
En Route: Visions of the American Landscape
The University of St Francis, Moser Performing Art Center Gallery, Joliet, IL
Bill Sosin & Christine DiThomas
January 24th - February 25th
artHaus 2009
Dogtown Station, 700 Main Street, Venice, CA
Opening Night Sat, Jan 24th 5 pm
Opening Weekend, Sat-Sun., 12-4 pm
Valet Parking
November 10th – December 31st, 2008.
Out of Focus
A group show at Chicago Art Source, 1871 N. Clybourn, Chicago, 773 248-3100
Pictorialist photography takes a sharp turn from its traditional dreamy, pastoral, laid-back soft-focus sensibility and goes urban and aggro, while retaining its trademark blur, in the images of the shooters in this group show. Whether Bill Sosin decides to title one of his glaring color abstractions “Blue Man” or “Emerald Pool,” it will have the same effect as his aptly named “Stop Lights,” in which we see blinding circles of light on dark backgrounds through a watery mist, bringing us back to the experience of navigating a car through blazing city lights at night in a thick rain when we are arguably DWI. (Michael Weinstein, New City, 11.21.08)
October 28, 2008.
The Grammar of Landscape, Eleven Photographic Visions of Illinois, Illinois State Museum Lockport Gallery, Norton Building, 201 W. 10th Street, Lockport, IL. Exhibit runs through March 27, 2009 then will travel for two years throughout the state of Illinois.
Septemper 2008 Harris Bank executive offices permanent collection. Local Knowledge and In the Loop.
August 28th, 2008, 6-8pm.
Unseen Chicago Exhibit and Silent Auction, W Hotel, 172 W. Adams, Guest Room 1, Plateau Level.
June 20th–August 11th, 2008.
Ysla Battrell Gallery, 405 Linden Avenue, Wilmette, IL 60091
Carol Battrell, 847 256-1400.
April 25–28, 2008.
Artropolis, The Artist Project., Merchandise Mart, Chicago, Booth # 8-4078.
September 17, 2007.
The Grammar of Landscape, State of Illinois Museum Chicago Gallery at the Thompson Center, 200 N. LaSalle Street, Chicago, IL. Exhibit runs through January 28, 2008 then will travel for two years throughout the state of Illinois. Currently showing at the Southern Illinois Art & Artisans Center.
April 14th–May 28th, 2007. The Art of Photography Show at the San Diego Lyceum Theatre Gallery.
Selected as one of 103 finalists (chosen from 9,867 submissions) curated by Tim Wride, LA County Museum of Art, Los Angeles.
Publications:
The 3rd Annual Photography Masters Cup nomination of Transit by Bill Sosin will be published in the premiere issue of The Photo Paper magazine.
COLOR for Collectors of Fine Photography Issue #4 August, 2008, Novato, CA
City Rain The book, is available as special order contact bsosin@aol.com or blurb.com.
Communication Arts 2007 Photography Annual - Full spread layout with five images as seen in the City Rain portfolio.
Art of Photography Review, Rangefinder Magazine, December 2007.
Notes on the rain series.
A while back I ran across some negatives I shot from my car in the old film days. I was intrigued by them and began photographing from inside my car again. Driving around the city in a downpour I had glazed over momentarily at a stop light as the droplets of rain gathered on the windshield and the chromium vapor of the streetlamps blurred behind them. I let the cinema window of the car become obscured with the pebbles of water and then photographed them with my 4 mega pixel point-and-shoot. I started to repeat the process whenever circumstances allowed, ultimately taking more serious shots with a larger 12.3 mega pixel digital camera.
What started haphazardly became an obsession and I have now captured hundreds of these images. Generally the texture of the precipitation is kept in focus, and the shape, weight and direction of the droplets can change according to wind flow and the severity of the rainfall. Activity in the city streets is set in shallow focus behind this. Neon fluorescence and radiant red light from car brake lights are common themes, but more abstract and suggestive patterns are created by silhouetted pedestrians hastening along with pendulous umbrellas; vehicles such as towtrucks or sixteen wheelers, made more ominous in the dreamscape of their out of focus state; or lonely objects in storefront windows, rendered redundant by the inclement weather. The pure refractions of light are controlled by the lens choice, focus and exposure, blurred into kaleidoscopes or minimized to retain narrative detail. I search for different colorations, shooting at various times of day when the hue of the sky can contribute to the tableau.