NEW CANAAN, CONN.- Littlejohn Contemporary - New Canaan presents “Near & Far”, a solo exhibition of large-scale, square landscape photographs by artist, Torrance York. The exhibition is on view from January 7 through January 30, 2016. Near & Far includes new work from Connecticut and Paris, France, as well as selections from the artist’s Functional Ground series taken in New York’s Hudson Valley from 2001-7.

In her new work York captures close up details found in the context of public spaces, often photographed from ground level and using a narrow depth of field. In this way the viewer is visually drawn into the depicted scene and observes a different perspective than seen at eye-level. Near elements are juxtaposed with distant ones and the picture space is manipulated by what the artist chooses to place in sharp focus versus what falls into a soft blur. York offers a representation of her experience in each photographed environment and the value it holds for her.

Included in the exhibition is a suite of four large images taken at the Jardin des Tuileries in Paris. The photographs have blue skies with the colorful distant flowers forming geometric shapes behind crisp green grasses. In one, a background tree plays a leading role as it cascades forward onto a horizontal display of colorful plantings. A centerpiece of the exhibit is a 44 x 44 inch Fall scene taken in New Canaan’s Waveny Park showing tall grasses towering above distant green trees, a soft orange leaf dominating the foreground.

Beginning with her Functional Ground series and over the past 15 years, York has titled her landscapes with the GPS coordinates from which each image was taken. She is drawn to the systematic nature of the GPS technology. However, the images that are anchored by the longitude and latitude are her subjective response to that specific place and point in time. In turn, the number and image serve as diaristic markers of her photographic journey.

York’s Functional Ground series presents a portrait of a place—a Hudson Valley dairy farm, horse farm and the roads and fields surrounding them. Seven images from this series complete the exhibit as they explore the microcosm within the ecosystem of this crossroads.

This is Torrance York’s first solo exhibition with Littlejohn Contemporary. She received a BA from Yale and an MFA from Rhode Island School of Design in 1994. She has been exhibiting her work since the early 1990's and is based in New Canaan, CT.