Safe-T-Gallery is pleased to present the work of R. Wayne Parsons in an innovative exhibition “Monuments to JMC and other stories.” The exhibit features three independent series of photographs that examine the relationship of photographs to the written word.
The centerpiece of the exhibit is “Monuments to JMC,” 20 large format black and white photographs of constructed ruins with accompanying wall texts. The texts both illuminate and comment on the life and times of “JMC”, hero, villain, beloved leader and brick-maker, over the course of several millennia. The role of the text in relation to the photographs is wittily examined as the realities of the photographs and the realities of the text follow their entirely rational, but incongruous, paths. Although the photographs can stand alone as beautiful objects, the conjunction of text and image adds an unusually astute political and philosophical dimension to the work.
   Text itself is the subject matter of Has Language Lost Its Magic? This series of camera-less black-and-white photographs uses the opening words of the Gospel of John (“In the beginning was the word”) as a means of exploring the place of language in the modern world. Using various techniques, the text is manipulated to suggest, depending upon how the images are read, either corruption and/or regeneration. Finally, The Ladder Series is comprised of small images, each including one or more step ladders. Text is included in the images, most frequently on the rungs of the ladder, to make points that are both humorous and thought provoking.