Marc Selwyn Fine Art is pleased to present a new series of work by Richard Misrach: iPhone Studies, 2011. Misrach is one of the most influential and internationally recognized photographers working today. He is best known for his epic project on the deserts of the American West and his On the Beach series, both of which explore his unique perspective on man’s place in nature. By exploring the social, political, environmental, and cultural characteristics of the places he photographs, Misrach has expanded the notion of traditional landscape photographic practice. His previous subjects have included manmade floods and fires, military bombing ranges, isolated swimmers in a vast ocean, sublime night skies, and details of paintings housed in the museums of the Southwest.
This exhibition consists of new small-scale color prints taken with an iPhone camera. Using this now ubiquitous technology, Misrach continues his examination of man’s interaction with land and seascapes. In these intimate and experimental images, Misrach revisits Bombray Beach California, a flood zone where he examines found objects and detritus – evidence of man’s presence in the landscape. These compositions are then deftly manipulated - positive becomes negative and objects are transformed in a reversed color spectrum. Rusty nails, children’s toys and plastic cups are battered by nature, taking on surprising and improbable characteristics that often evoke Abstract Expressionist or Minimalist abstractions.