Main Street By Diane Bush
Opening Reception: May 1st, 5:00-8:00 PM
Artist Statement:
“This project, shot in 1981, was my last black and white documentary photographic essay, created for my M.F.A. degree (University of Buffalo) in Fine Arts Photography. The final project was exhibited at Artist’s Gallery (later Big Orbit) on Essex Street. Later, WNED-TV used the images to create a five minute filler with collected sound and jazz, using a Ken Burn’s style of panning, zooming, and fades. Since then, the work has been rarely seen, perhaps at the occasional CEPA art auction.
My original intent was to document Downtown Buffalo during the “Revitalization” that had engulfed the Theatre District. Buffalo was the last Rust Belt city to take advantage of these Federal dollars. It was 1980, but it looked as if some businesses were still in the 40s and 50s. All this was rather romantic to my mind. Conditions were challenging, as I was not allowed to use flash, or additional lighting, and I did not have any digital tools then. I spent most of my time at Singer’s Boxing Gym, and Hippodrome Billiards. The only location I photographed that is still around is Shea’s Theatre. Singer’s Gym burned, and the Hippodrome moved to Hertel. The Police Station (originally an art deco Greyhound Bus station) is now the Alleyway Theatre.
Forty-five years later, these images preserve a slice of time in Buffalo history that perhaps no one was interested in acknowledging. I never saw anyone else recording the transition, so I took up the reins, hoping the value would some day resonate. ” – Diane Bush
Biography:
Diane Bush is an American activist artist and photographer, who trained in the U.K. In her later years, Bush has embraced public art through public participation projects using fiber art (Yarn Bombing) and performance. “I think of myself as a problem solver that uses art (and humor) to get the job done.”
Born in Buffalo, Diane Bush emigrated to England at the age of 18 in response to the Vietnam War. She Returned ten years later and she earned her MFA from the University at Buffalo. After graduating, she spent seven years as staff photographer at the local affiliate of the National Public Broadcasting and ABC-TV stations. At the same time, she pursued self-imposed artistic projects and established a non-profit public arts organization, URBAN ART.
Bush was the Photography Department Coordinator at Villa Maria College, while earning recognition through entities such as CEPA, Hallwalls, Kodak, Polaroid, Nikon, Ilford, and the AKG Buffalo Art Museum. Bush’s work has been exhibited throughout the U.S. and Europe, including London’s Photographers Gallery, and the Houston Center for Photography. Her fine art resides in the collections of the Martin Parr Foundation, George Eastman House, Helmet Gernsheim Collection, and Burchfield Penney Art Center. Her paperback book(let), Main Street, Buffalo, New York 1980-1981, published by Café Royal Books, features a selection of works on view at CEPA from 5.1.26 to 7.17.26. High quality reproduction values, copies are currently in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art, Tate Britain, and The Victoria and Albert Museum.