Denise Lira-Ratinoff's "Elements" is the latest photographic offering from a unique gallery that showcases the work of founder Paul Hagedorn along with exhibitions of recommended younger photographers.
Lira-Ratinoff, who recently completed graduate studies at Savannah College of Art and Design-Atlanta, presents color photos that are genuinely elemental. Photos that show only the sky above and lake water in Piedmont Park, plus an earlier series of details of ice from a melting Chilean glacier, provide a dramatic look at what endures and what perishes.
The perishing part is the most spectacular. The glacial ice disappearing into ocean water is an immense, dramatic landscape that no longer exists.
Close-up photos of the leaves of a Chilean vineyard are comforting by contrast. The seasons still turn, but global warming is changing the terms.
Lira-Ratinoff contributes a portion of the proceeds from the sale of her glacier series to a water conservation fund in Chile and is donating a portion of sales from the Piedmont Park series to the Piedmont Park Conservancy.
Her philosophy thus dovetails ideally with Hagedorn Foundation Gallery's mission of raising funds for a variety of causes through the sale of art.
An artist's talk is scheduled for June 28 at 6 p.m.
> THE 411: Denise Lira-Ratinoff's "Elements." Through Aug. 21. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mondays-Fridays, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturdays. Hagedorn Foundation Gallery, 425 Peachtree Hills Ave., Suite 25, Atlanta. 404-492-7718, www.hfgallery.org.
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