Image by Wright Schickli Selected by The Chateau Gallery
Ellen Gilkerson | Published on 5/27/2023
Off-Broadway, an image by PACC member Wright Schickli, was selected by The Chateau Gallery for inclusion in its Abandonedonline-only monthly exhibition. Set in the heart of Louisville, Kentucky’s Historic Old Louisville Historic Preservation District, The Chateau Gallery is a contemporary hybrid art gallery with a narrative as captivating as the artwork housed within its walls. The building's unique Chateauesque Victorian architecture lends credence to the gallery's name, known informally as “The Chateau.”
For its Abandoned exhibit, the Gallery solicited all forms of photographs that explore abandoned and rediscovered objects, spaces, and structures, noting a popular genre in the photographic world is the trend of urban exploration ("urbex") — the exploration of abandoned or forgotten places to document the narrative of those who lived or worked there. Through this type of image, we can glimpse the ephemeral nature and memory of ourselves and our surroundings and preserve them before being lost to time and place. What do these structures and objects convey about society as we leave them to decay? What is the essence of time and place, and what or whom are we abandoning?
Wright says: I captured this image by standing below ground level in a parking lot and shooting through a chain link fence with my small circumference 50mm lens. I had to photograph this place, which is very close to The Chateau Gallery, several times over the past two years to figure out how to get the photo I wanted. The Director of the Chateau said he had almost died five times trying to photograph this place, the Merchant Ice Tower property, so I guess I won’t trespass to get closer (which I was tempted to do)!
Ellen says: I hope I speak for everyone in adding that I am happy that Wright didn’t die for his art.
Wright Schickli:
Off-Broadway