Structural Concerns Marshall Gallery
© MATTHEW BRANDT000263753, 'Demolition of LA High School, 2013
Written by Jania Newman
Photo edited by Max Amos-Flom
Marshall Gallery is currently showing a multifaceted art exhibition titled “Structural Concerns.” The exhibition ranges in mediums from photography to painting with the subject matter of all artworks being the “concern” of buildings. The title of the show is an homage to Cornell Capa’s phase “Concerned Photographers” which was about journalistic photographers who hold the duality of capturing and documenting people, events, and the world around them on a humanistic level.
The buildings as subjects are captured mostly through photography. The images of the buildings all have stories. It is almost like the building is being personified. In its human form, we the observers are looking at a photograph of it at one point in its life. The photographs show the end of the building's life through disappearing, destruction, and demolition. Other photographs show the building's rebuilding, reconstruction, or reconfiguration, which can symbolize rebirth or transformation. Some images even show the origin or creation of the building.
© THERESA GANZ LOST EMPIRE, 20236
These stories behind the photos give the observer insight and context into understanding the deeper meaning of the photograph, which is more than meets the eye. The photographer's relationship with capturing subject matter is also a point to explore whilst viewing the images in the exhibition. The relationship symbolizes the photographer’s introspection. Therefore, the image encourages the viewers' introspection once the context and insight have been acquired.
The stories of each artist’s photographs are diverse, allowing many explorations and perspectives of the presentation of architectural subject matter. However, there are some overarching motifs in the show that can be traced through more than just one work. The capturing of demolition of buildings is seen in Klaus Frahm’s “Demolition of Millerntor-Hochhaus, St Pauli, Hamburg 1996” and Matthew Brandt’s “Demolition of LA High School From Dust 2013.” Despite the two photographs having different contexts and stories, the thread between both images is destruction. The movement in both photos allows the viewer to be a part of the demolition of these buildings. The destruction is occurring in the photography live. Observing is witnessing history through photography. The black and white monochrome lens of the photographs gives the images drama and seriousness, leading to a more impactful response.
© KLAUS FRAHM Demolition of Millerntor-Hochhaus, St. Pauli, Hamburg, 1996
There are however plenty of photographs in color within the show. Albarran Cabrera’s work uses color in his photographs. The color stories in his photo series “The Mouth of Krishna” are of a warm, rich vibrancy that creates a dream-like aesthetic. Cabrera’s photographs aren’t of literal buildings but more so of life itself. Cabrera believes that the reality of life is like a building: “Reality is made of blocks.” “The Mouth of Krishna” mixes the philosophy of Buddhism with the introspect of life being able to be seen in the mundane and minute, the little things despite being small and typically unsubstantial can be a representation of life. This grandiose notion of even a grain of sand being life is what inspires the photographs of Cabrera's "The Mouth of Krishna.”
© ALBARRÁN CABRERA The Mouth of Krishna #281, 2016
Another photographer who uses color is Theresa Ganz. Ganz approaches the subjects of buildings more abstractly than the other photographers within the show, making her work unique and captivating. Ganz’s photographs are like buildings themselves in a physical form. Her series “Emerald City'' and “The Lost Empire,” from her photo series titled “ Paper Empires,” are made using an avante-garde process of using technology and collage-making to physically manipulate her photographs. Some of the materials Ganz uses for these works are colored pencils, collages, and inkjet prints. The configuration of the final piece has a texture and three-dimensional element to it that is a more abstract representation of the subject matter Ganz is dealing with.
Structural concerns are full of many voices and talents all exploring buildings through their lens. The diversity in the mediums, various composition styles, and photo processes give the show a nuanced and immersive experience through the stories of buildings.
© THERESA GANZ Emerald City Dawn, 2022
