Following two review fragments from group exhibition "Winter Solstice - Contemporary Traditions" at The Rice Gallery, Albany Institute of History and Art: Light, in both abundance and short supply, is the key to "Florence," one of two David Brickman color photographs from Italy. This one is an indoor/outdoor scene of rich contrast; the dark interior centering on a table set with dishes and bathed in heavy blue light beneath an open window with a view of a sunny sky and red-tiled roofs outside. Peg Churchill Wright "Artists light up exhibit with winter theme" The Daily Gazette, December 1998
There are a few other works ... worth pointing out. David Brickman's two color photographs, for example, beautifully combine documentary fact, formal beauty, and personal presence. Each shows an informal eating scene while apparently traveling in Europe. One has the viewer looking over a table setting, through a window, over some tile roofs to the Duomo in Florence. The other looks past two small doors, past some food just served, into a beautifully clean kitchen in Vienna. These not only speak of the place and of being there, but of photography itself. William Jaeger "Winter Solstice a warm, indulgent group exhibition" Times Union, December 27, 1998
Review from solo exhibition "Been There" at Lulu's Gallery, Albany: David Brickman's sharp, clean controlled color photographs make beautiful what is already beautiful. Taken throughout the last five years in various places on both sides of the Atlantic, they are very much about a sense of place, hence the title to his current show on the third floor at Lulu Gallery, "Been There." Whether these courtyards, houses, windows and ponds are obviously beautiful, or whether the scenes are ones often overlooked, Brickman crystallizes the place and time for us in a realistic and sympathetic manner. If they stray into tourist brochure territory at times, that is the natural danger of going to rustic, attractive places with color film in the camera, when too much realism makes the photograph utterly transparent to the original scene. Some views are as simple as the 16 by 20 inch "La Badia di Montepiano, Italy," showing the gnarly, lichen-encrusted base of a tree in a verdant meadow. An absolutely blue sky runs along the top, and a few trees cluster below that. There is nothing spectacular going on, which is its strength. It is characteristic of Brickman to let a small thing catch his eye, and impart to it a delicate significance. Next is a slightly larger print of a pink towel on a clothesline under some trees. The towel fits in the center of the print like an apron, collecting the broken light through dark green trees. Its elegance, like a sweet memory, transcends simple facts. Several pictures will seem familiar to anyone who frequents Bokland labs in Albany, where three of Brickman's prints have been hanging for some time, and where the prints for this show were made. "Roses and Clouds, Florence" has us looking out onto a series of red tile roofs under a softly blue-white sky. Starkly poised in the foreground are some potted pink roses approaching full bloom. This makes for one of Brickman's more complicated and more interesting views. With sheer touristy luxuriance, "Wisteria, Florence" situates the viewer on a gravel patio with lavender wisteria blooms falling all over themselves above our heads. The tile roofs of Florence are lit brightly in the distance under a dark gray sky. Time and again, Brickman shows the viewer something as if we were there, and he makes us wish we were. Even simple scenes that seem less romantic than this are made beautiful. The group taken in the Rhone Valley of France relishes understatement, each one showing just a corner of a yard: an empty old pool, a rusty wheelbarrow full of gravel, some clothes flapping in the wind. There are more than 25 photographs here in this European-American tour. But does Brickman push the viewer hard enough? As much as the scenery is compelling, the photographs tend to be vehicles for sightseeing rather than creating a satisfying end. Because they are purposely dry and impersonal, because they let the beauty of the subjects dominate over the thoughts of the photographer, and because most of the images don't come up to the level of feeling or sophistication of the very best of them, the show lets go too easily, like a passing fancy. It is worth paying heed to the dozen or so black and white photographs by Brickman hanging on the second floor. These date to the early 1990s, and both the subject matter and the visual organization make clear the same eye and the same intelligence are at work behind them. They succeed in much the same way as the images upstairs, but trade the delicate hues of the color photographs for the rich textures so intrinsic to black and whites. This is a clear example of what a difference color makes in photography. For better or for worse, his black and white images are never mistaken for anything but art. The subject is held one step removed from reality, all color sucked away, and we are no longer tempted to simply use the photograph as a window into another world. Of course, this might help you appreciate the difficulty of Brickman's having succeeded so well with the color photographs upstairs, whatever their limitations. Having both sets of work helps establish the real David Brickman throughout. When he applies his finely tuned, analytical approach to such warm and textural subjects, the results are gratefully never sentimentalized or cheapened. William Jaeger "Brickman makes simple things look wonderful" Times Union, July 20, 1997
Review fragment from preview exhibition of gala auction at Albany Institute of History and Art: David Brickman's color photograph, "The Roses, Budapest," shows an overflowing rose garden in peak bloom, and in a far corner a little girl is doing flips on a horizontal bar. Innocence and old world beauty and a blush of surrealism. William Jaeger "Gala auction to benefit art institute showcases Capital Region artists' works" Times Union, March 31, 1995
Review fragment from group exhibition at Harmanus Bleecker Center: Brickman's photographs ... echo with the emptiness of the uninhabited places and the jagged fraction-of-a-second juxtapositions of photographic time and space. Timothy Cahill "Touch and Feel" Metroland, March 19-25, 1987
Review fragment from 5th Annual Photography regional: There are more than 20 works in the show that transcend the majority. ... David Brickman's Les Urbach at the Psychiatric Center is an absolutely stunning mix of romanticism and modern lines ... Debbi Snook "Photography show lacks development" Times Union, May 8, 1983
Review fragment from Eyes and Ears column on solo exhibition titled American Visions: Although David Brickman cannot yet boast the Olympian credits of a Harry Callahan or an Elliot Erwitt, he is certainly a remarkably fine photographer ... I've always felt that, in the inevitable tug-of-war between objective and subjective elements in photographs, it is the subjective that tends to dominate in Brickman's work. ... These are virtually uncaptionable photographs, yet they are full of meaning. And their strength lies precisely in their obliqueness, for that quality forces the viewer to come to terms with these works in terms of their reiterated themes. The frequency and thematic interweavings of such elements as the sea, endless pathways, barriers and a fascinating array of seemingly malevolent vegetation (cactus, yucca plants, etc.) would seem to my mind the real subject of these photographs and provide a fascinatingly personal vision of America in a show well worth seeing. Noel Suter METROLAND, January 14-20, 1982
Review fragment from Eyes and Ears column on solo exhibition at C.S. Martin: David Brickman's show [at C.S. Martin] marks his real emergence as an artist with a distinctive sensibility. Derivative work is rare here. Most of the images are direct, personal, imaginative and compelling. Brickman seems to be developing a body of work which incisively and poignantly contemplates the ambiguous interrelationships between culture and nature. I recommend the show. Noel Suter METROLAND, May 7th, 1981