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View In My Room
Photography, C-type on Paper
Size: 56.4 W x 43 H x 0.1 D in
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15781 Views
420
Featured in One to Watch
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IN PIECES Edition of 7 + 2 AP A multimedia collaboration between Nathan Sawaya (Sculptor) and Dean West (Photographer) The project features a series of tableau compositions based on ideas about nature, culture and identity construction. Identity as a cultural creation has been heavily manipulated and commercialized, and this is prominently portrayed in this highly stylized representation of contemporary life. The images have been constructed by combining West’s modern photography techniques and Sawaya’s unique sculptures made out of LEGO®. Key to the series narrative and aesthetic Sawaya’s sculptures are much like the construction of a digital photograph. Thousands of bricks are glued together to form recognizable objects much like the assembly of pixels in a digital image. The similarities in technology not only help shape the aesthetic of IN PIECES, they are key to deconstructing each tableau composition. In an awkward moment of self-awareness, the subjects appear frozen. An acknowledgment of their cultural arena is suffocating. Individuals stand in recognizable but chillingly empty minimalist scenes derived from common features of the American landscape. Their averted eyes gaze into nothingness, and a strange feeling of aloofness and displacement reverberates. The careful positioning of the human figures, the subtle interactions and this special attention to geometrical design, echoes the influence of a cinematic 'Hopper' painting. Using mostly frontal style imagery of the North American landscape, the simple unvarnished vernacular locations, reference the American Picture Postcard. Pastel blues, greens and yellows wash across the photographs as if, they themselves, had also been hand colored lithograph. The imagery from a distance, appears entirely photographic, however as the viewer begins to digest the imagery, each work reveals the brick by brick fabricated construction.
2012
C-type on Paper
1
56.4 W x 43 H x 0.1 D in
Not Framed
Not applicable
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A wide range of environments and character types are explored in the works of New York City-based Dean West. The Australian-born (1983) artist who studied at the Queensland College of Art, is best known for his intricate and highly staged photographs that take everyday occurrences beyond the realm of natural reality. Extraordinary in their tonal range, digital clarity, and artistic vision, West’s meticulously choreographed scenes, character studies, and atmospheric landscapes powerfully yet synthetically link needs to desires and documentation to invention. Passionately dedicated to the vast possibilities of digital photography as both a medium and a cultural epoch, West’s narratives draw inspiration from the total diversity offered by the visual arts. While the tableau photography of Stan Douglas and Jeff Wall inform West’s understanding of photography as a form of contemporary communication, the paintings of David Hockney and Edward Hopper provide evident aesthetic direction. The fictional world of cinema and the functional language of advertising have also clearly left their mark and taught lessons of their own. International brands have embraced West’s vision through partnerships and important clients such as Disney, MTV, Bombay Sapphire, and Fox Sports. Recognized as one of Saatchi & Saatchi’s “Top 100 Emerging Photographers” in 2008, West has also been honored with “Advertising Photographer of the Year” at the International Loupe Awards (2008) and the prestigious “Arte Laguna Prize” in Venice, Italy (2009). International art curators have taken notice of the accomplished skill West applies to both his digital photography technique and the complex, cerebral narratives offered in his images. His works have been exhibited at important institutions around the world including the Columbus Museum of Art (2012), Faneuli Hall Museum of Boston (2015), the Paris Expo Porte De Versailles (2015), Puls 5 Gallery in Zürich, and the Discovery Times Square Museum in New York City (2014). Hailed as one of the most promising artists of his generation and identified as one of the most accomplished practitioners of digital image making as an art form, West has been honored by acquisitions of his work by some of the most prestigious collections of contemporary art, including that of Sir Elton John.
Featured in Saatchi Art's curated series, One To Watch
Handpicked by Saatchi Art's Chief Curator for our most prestigious feature, Rising Stars
Featured in Saatchi Art's printed catalog, sent to thousands of art collectors
Handpicked to show at The Other Art Fair presented by Saatchi Art in New York
Artist featured by Saatchi Art in a collection
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