Photographer Jeff Wall presents his visual narratives on jumbo, wall-mounted lightboxes. (The image above, Restoration, is nearly 47 feet by 17 feet.) A recent cover story in The New York Times Magazine on Wall detailed the genesis of his oversized, luminscent style. Like many good things, it began in Spain. "[T]he impression made on him by the Velázquez paintings in the Prado reverberated with the advertising light boxes that he encountered on the side of bus kiosks as he traveled, setting off an explosive artistic reaction when he got back to Vancouver. 'I saw the Velázquez, Goya, Titian — I loved it and wanted to be part of it somehow,' he told me. 'Every time the bus stopped, you were looking out the window, and there was a sign in a light box. I began to think, It’s luminous, Velázquez was luminous, I’ll try it. I thought, It has a certain vulgar quality, a rough quality, a slightly uncivilized air they brought to high painting.'" Forty of Wall's photos are at the MoMA through May 14. Particularly interesting is Wall's recreation of a Japanese woodblock print by Hokusai.
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Lightbox as magnifying glass
Photographer Jeff Wall presents his visual narratives on jumbo, wall-mounted lightboxes. (The image above, Restoration, is nearly 47 feet by 17 feet.) A recent cover story in The New York Times Magazine on Wall detailed the genesis of his oversized, luminscent style. Like many good things, it began in Spain. "[T]he impression made on him by the Velázquez paintings in the Prado reverberated with the advertising light boxes that he encountered on the side of bus kiosks as he traveled, setting off an explosive artistic reaction when he got back to Vancouver. 'I saw the Velázquez, Goya, Titian — I loved it and wanted to be part of it somehow,' he told me. 'Every time the bus stopped, you were looking out the window, and there was a sign in a light box. I began to think, It’s luminous, Velázquez was luminous, I’ll try it. I thought, It has a certain vulgar quality, a rough quality, a slightly uncivilized air they brought to high painting.'" Forty of Wall's photos are at the MoMA through May 14. Particularly interesting is Wall's recreation of a Japanese woodblock print by Hokusai.
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2 comments:
I LOVE Jeff Wall. I think he's everything he thinks he is.
I remember many moons ago someone said, "That Jeff Wall, he's the most important photographer, if not artist working today."
I knew he was right at the time...and he is someone who never seemed to always have good ideas, but impeccable taste...
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