The ASU Library Channel welcomes back Arizona Historical Foundation Photo Preservationist Rebekah Tabah to discuss the 2011 exhibit "Allen Dutton: A Retrospective" featuring examples from over fifty years of the artist's work. Host Fred McIlvain takes us on a tour of Dutton's work including his books, paintings, photo collages, and his life and history in Arizona. Get ready for a discussion unique as the artist himself.
Master photographer, author, sculptor, social critic, painter, poet, educator and philosopher Allen Dutton was born in 1922 in Kingman, Arizona. His grandparents were pioneers who came to the Arizona Territory in the late nineteenth century and his family has been here ever since. After receiving his discharge from the Army in 1946, he went on to study painting and sculpture at the Art Center School in Los Angeles and earned a master's in history with a minor in art from
Arizona State University. At the age of 62, he took early retirement from Phoenix College to devote himself full time to his art. Dutton embarked on a re-photographic survey project that netted two volumes of before and after comparisons published under the titles of
Arizona Then and Now and
Phoenix Then and Now. This led to his next project, photographing every street corner in every town in Arizona for the benefit of posterity.
Influenced by the cowboy culture of his youth, Dutton created the fictional Rocking A.D. Ranch in southwestern Yavapai County to breed rhinoceros. He wove tales and gave slide illustrated lectures to audiences about the 34 rhinos he kept on the ranch, all of whom were trained for a specific useful task such as cutting cattle.
In addition to landscapes and fictitious rhinos Dutton also photographs nude camera studies. Using people of every shape, size, and age the subjects are sometimes the focal point or often the nude discreetly concealed within a larger landscape. He also has completed a series that takes a humorous look at retired life in Sun City, Arizona.
Find out more at the
Arizona Historical Foundation.
Host: Fred Mcilvain
Guest: Rebekah Tabah
http://lib.asu.edu/librarychannel
Episode 115
Running Time: 13:08