The archetypes are always with us, shaping our dreams and symbols, our responses to waking reality, no matter how deeply they are buried. Photographer David Spence is an archaeologist and a prospector for gold, sifting through the sand of imagery, the layers of consciousness, for buried archetypes. As displayed in his exhibition "Photographic Works," what waits to be uncovered in those lower regions is often dark and even grotesque.
Spence's assessment of the human condition assumes the form of eerie images rising from wells of murky color. In some of his photographs scanners penetrate the surfaces to reveal what lies within the skin and metal that clad our physical world. Occasionally Spence turns to familiar scenes from mythology. He may have had Goya in mind when developing Saturn Devours One of His Children, but the new visualization of the old story of paternal paranoia and murder, tinted in the lurid green of envy, is at once primeval, art historical and high-tech.
Like the spirit photographs of the Victorians, Spence's pictures sometimes suggest something disturbing and unwanted at the edge of reality. "Photographic Works" is on display through Dec. 4 at Gallery 2622 (2622 N. Wauwatosa Ave.). The gallery is open 2-5 p.m. Mondays or by appointment at 327-4531.
