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Tinsquo's curatorial project, Adjacent To Life, presents Dark City by Dina Litovsky.
Marisa Malone contributes the exhibition essay:
What is a city without its people? Photographer Dina Litovsky shows us it’s disorienting. “During COVID the city became nonsensical,” she says, "there were street lights guiding no one, signs and advertisements became useless…it’s like a segment of a dream. You're not exactly sure what is going on.” Photographed during the height of the pandemic while taking hours-long walks at night, Dark City encapsulates the dreamlike, dystopian reality of that time.
The title of this exhibit comes from a dystopian sci-fi film of the same name. These photos nod to the film's neo-noir aesthetic and combine the isolation often felt in the paintings of Edward Hopper. “I love artificial light sources, like the way Hopper used them,” she says, “I was looking for light sources from street lamps, headlights, neon signs, and windows.” There is a voyeuristic quality to this body of work. A roving eye that seeks life in the dark.
Beyond this series, her style can be described as confrontational, using flash and vivid color much in conversation with her mentor Bruce Guilden. Guided by her interests in people, sexual politics, and subcultures, Litovsky documents her subjects in such a way that feels revealing of some unspoken truth or understanding.
Finding photography after studying pre-med and psychology, she continues to observe human behavior from behind the lens. It has also changed her own behavior, “I’m an extreme introvert,” she says “but with a camera I'm a different person. It gets me out to social events I wouldn't feel comfortable going to otherwise.” The proof of which is in her photographs – up close, bold, and intimate.
- Marisa Malone
Dina Litovsky is a Ukrainian-born photographer living in New York City since 1991. Dina's imagery can be described as visual sociology. Her work explores the idea of leisure, often focusing on subcultures and social gatherings. Dina is a regular contributor to National Geographic, The New York Times Magazine, TIME, New Yorker, GQ and New York Magazine. In 2020 Dina won the Nannen Prize, Germany's foremost award for documentary photography.
Marisa Malone grew up in the Sierra foothills of Nevada. She studied writing and literature at The Evergreen State College and currently lives in Brooklyn, NY. Her writing has been published in BlazeVox Journal and Selfish Magazine, along with two self-published poetry chapbooks.
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Dark City is on view through February 9, 2024 at the Adjacent To Life gallery housed in Ninth Street Espresso (341 E. 10th Street at Ave B, New York City). Opening reception: Friday, January 12, 7:00 - 9:00.