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The Center for Photography at Woodstock (CPW) is pleased to present PQ:100, an exhibition surveying the photography, films, videos, and photo-based installations that have been featured on the first 100 covers of CPW's publication PQ (Photography Quarterly).
 
As PQ reaches this milestone issue and print media continues to struggle to redefine itself amidst the digital age, CPW invites audiences to experience the contrast between engaging art objects and art as re-presented, re-produced, and re-interpreted in print form. When producing a publication, choices have to be made. Images are cropped. Textures and sheens are democratized. Sense of scale and dimension is lost. And, as it was for the first 88 issues of PQ, whether the image was toned, color, or not, it may be reproduced in black-&-white.
 
The exhibition PQ:100 provides a unique opportunity for the public to experience nearly all of the original works featured on the covers of PQ as well as the chance to grasp the shifts, trends, and ideas that have been explored throughout photography over the past 30 plus years. The exhibition's installation design will emphasize that dialogue by having CPW's publication displayed on running reading shelves throughout the gallery, along with the artworks used to illustrate its covers, which will be installed salon-style above the actual issues, giving visitors a unique chance to re-engage simultaneously with the broad spectrum of ideas that have been published in the issues and on the covers of the first 100 PQs.
 
An integral component of CPW's kaleidoscopic mix of program offerings, PQ, originally published as Center Quarterly, was the brainchild of CPW's founders, Michael Feinberg and Howard Greenberg in 1979. Initially conceived as a black-and-white foldout brochure and a way to broaden CPW's efforts to champion photography as a fine art form beyond the borders of Woodstock, NY, the publication has since blossomed into a 60-page full color publication with an international subscribership including numerous public and private institutions. For over three decades it has brought forth innovative ideas and imagery through essays, interviews, portfolios, and served as source of discovery for new voices in contemporary photography. The artists represented on the publication's covers additionally reflect not only photography's icons but also the deep wealth of talented image makers that have made the Hudson Valley and its surroundings their home.
 
Over the course of its history, PQ has been under the stewardship of three primary editors. Kathleen Kenyon served the longest term from 1982 to 2003. During her tenure, PQ reached new heights of excellence by serving as a platform for expanded dialogues centered around CPW exhibitions, engaging not only photography but film, video, and photo-based installation art. Important issues of the time that were addressed included explorations of race, gender, sexual identity, cultural politics, and artists from under-recognized regions and communities. In addition PQ began to present artist portfolios and featured issues dedicated to the promotion of collecting of contemporary photography through collector interviews and by highlighting CPW's annual benefit auction. PQ is currently under the editorship of CPW's executive director, Ariel Shanberg, who has overseen the publication since 2003. Recent highlights under Shanberg's editorship have included the publication's growth from 32-pages to 60-pages and transitioning from black-and-white to full color. PQ recently received a design overhaul by the design firm, de.MO under the supervision of Giorgio Baravalle. 
 
As an independent publication, the strength of PQ has always been the rich diversity of voices which have contributed to its pages. Guest editors, essayists, interviewers, and contributors to PQ have ensured that the dialogue on and through photography serves to forward the medium and the ideas explored through it forward in ways that mainstream photography publications, often beholden to advertisers and profit margins, cannot be. The impressive roster of contributors include the likes of Julia Ballerini, Nancy Barr, Malin Barth, Robert Blake, A.D. Coleman, Elizabeth Ferrer, Stephen Frailey, Lia Gangitano, Ellen Handy, W.M. Hunt, Ellen K. Levy, Carlo McCormick, Robert C. Morgan, Sandra Phillips, Fred Ritchin, Miriam Romais, David Levi Strauss, Leslie Tonkonow, David Travis, Marilyn Waligore, and Joseph Wolin, among many others.
 
Other ongoing features of the publication have included "Photography Now," an annual juried competition which has identified some of the most exciting emerging voices in the field as selected by leading curators, editors, and gallerists such as Jen Bekman, Julian Cox, Dana Faconti, and Kathy Ryan. Each year CPW introduces its most recent artists-in-residence to PQ's readership through portfolio features. Regular book reviews identify noteworthy monographs and critical texts. 

A complete on-line index of the PQ can be found by clicking here. 

Over the course of the exhibition's run from March 13 - May 31, a number of special events have been scheduled including the launch party for issue #100 which will be debuted in late April. 
 
Special Events to be held in conjunction with PQ:100
Saturday, March 13 - opening reception from 5-7 pm
Friday, April 23 - Release Party for PQ issue #100
Saturday, April 24 - "PQ: Uncovered" a one-day symposium featuring panel talks and speakers which will revisit many of the engaging and controversial ideas explored in the PQ back to life. Details TBA. Saturday May 15 - "Teen 'Zine Workshop" advanced registration required.

PQ:100 will be on view in CPW’s galleries from March 13 - May 31, 2010 

The opening reception will be held on Saturday, March 13 from 5-7pm.

This exhibition was made possible in part by funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency's Museum Program and the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

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