Michael Borek

Arlington Arts Center presents Michael Borek’s exhibition Effective Immediately as a part of its Spring Solos 2012 series. The exhibition will be open April 4 – June 10, 2012 and the opening reception will be held on April 20, 6 – 9 p.m. Gallery talk will be held on May 19. Arlington Arts Center is located at 3550 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22201, phone 703.248.6800. Smaller version of this exhibition presented in the fall 2011 by the Multiple Exposures Gallery was picked by Louis Jacobson from the Washington City Paper for his list of the best 10 photographic exhibitions in the Washington, DC, area in 2011. Many pictures from the Scranton Lace portfolio were also selected for juried shows, including by Elisabeth Sussman, Whitney Museum of American Art; Philip Brookman, Corcoran Gallery of Art; Milena Kalinovska, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden; and Amanda Maddox, J.Paul Getty Museum. The exhibited photographs were taken in an abandoned lace factory in Scranton, PA. The title of the show comes from an announcement made in May 2002, by the vice president of Scranton Lace Co.  He called all employees together in the middle of their shift to break the news that – effective immediately – the factory was closing. Effectively immediately, the employees lost their jobs and livelihoods, and the gradual decay began.

Michael Borek was awarded second prize in the International Awards Competition in the fine art category of FotoWeek DC 2011. His winning photograph is being shown at the FotoWeek DC central location (1800 L St., NW, former Borders bookstore). FotoWeek 2011 published Borek’s profile on its blog.

Michael Borek was recently interviewed by  the Washington City Paper. He talked to Louis Jacobson from the ArtsDesk about his life in general and in photography in particular, including his latest Scranton Lace project. This project was also the subject of an article about his photography written by Josh McAuliffe for the Scranton Times.

Michael Borek was interviewed by the Lauren Henkin during Photolucida 2011. You can listen to this interview at Photo Radio.

Multiple Exposures Gallery published an interview with Michael Borek in its blog. He talks about his creative process and how he edits his work before he submits it to competitions.