By Mary Beth Romito Andrew Borowiec, a photographic artist, will be exhibiting at The Akron Art Museum February 20th until May 30th, 2010. The exhibit, entitled Looking For The American Dream; Andr

Borowiec’s Ohio Photographs, will present twelve large scale color prints and twenty four smaller black & white photographs. Borowiec was born in 1956 in New York City but moved to Paris at a young age. He spent his childhood in France, Algeria, Tunisia, and Switzerland. He received a B.A. in Russian from Haverford College in 1979 and an M.F.A. in Photography from Yale University in 1982. Beginning his photography in high school and continuing throughout college, he worked in freelance journalism then taught photography at Parsons School of Design, the New School for Social Research, Germantown Academy, and Oberlin College. Since 1984, he has taught at the University of Akron’s Myers School of Art. In 2009 he was promoted to the rank of Distinguished Professor of Art. He currently lives in Akron, Ohio. Borowiec submerges himself into the changing settings of the American landscape. From the rugged areas of the city to the developed environments in the suburbs, Borowiec portrays landscapes of our shrinking and changing market during unforgiving economic times. As most photographers face today, the constant struggle of film photography to digital has affected Borowiec as well. Typically, Borowiec photographs in film but prints his images digitally. Developing in black & white is simpler in a dark room but using digital printing in color is a quicker and more efficient when creating large scale works. His eye sees the man-made object and his imaginative nature captures that representation in an innovative way. He shows the landscapes as they are connected by the old industrial age and the new commercial fronts. After viewing the work, one is encouraged to return while discovering the many intricate details originally unseen but thoughtfully there. Choosing color is also valuable for the scenes he portrays. Traditionally, preferring black & white for his works was affective for the jagged works of the industrial Cleveland era. His latest clean lined, bright colored landscapes have brought forth the way we understand the social views of tearing down the old and putting up the new. The new-fangled siding is evidently fresh when photographed in the bright gleaming sunlight and the mini-mansions people desire today are being deemed a sprawl no one can avoid. What’s interesting is how these shiny little houses intricately adorn the American landscape with old steel mills and nuclear power plants in the background. Borowiec’s choices of shots are important in understanding the works he creates. Landscapes are real, breathing things and photography can effectively represent the viewpoint of creating something out of nothing. He notes, “It’s the connection of reality and selecting that moment of clarity picking something, and discovering the truth behind it. Seeing the photography in all its clarity, and believing that it’s real. People find the images convincing as a photograph instead of other mediums, where something was created out of nothing.” As a professor at The University of Akron, Borowiec not only teaches his students about photography; he is also learning valuable skills from his students. He believes that an artist should be teaching the art they create to keep the motivation and the creative juices flowing. With an unavoidable digital age among us, Borowiec had to learn the technology he teaches to his students. He notes, “In order to grasp new information, you have to be actively working in that medium to then teach it to someone.” Borowiec is also presenting an exhibit at the Bonfoey Gallery, February 22 through March 20, 2010. The exhibit, Nights in Provence, is composed of magnificent night time photographs of the Var Province in the south of France. You can find more information about the exhibit at www.bonfoey.com.