LOT Phillips de Pury & Company  /  PHOTOGRAPHS PART I  / 

62

ABELARDO MORELL (American, b. 1948) CAMERA OBSCURA IMAGE OF MANHATTAN VIEW, LOOKING SOUTH IN A L...

Currency:USD Category:Everything Else / Other Start Price:NA Estimated At:4,000.00 - 6,000.00 USD
ABELARDO MORELL (American, b. 1948) CAMERA OBSCURA IMAGE OF MANHATTAN VIEW, LOOKING SOUTH IN A L...
ABELARDO MORELL (American, b. 1948) CAMERA OBSCURA IMAGE OF MANHATTAN VIEW, LOOKING SOUTH IN A LARGE ROOM signed, titled, dated and editioned "ABELARDO MORELL, CAMERA OBSCURA IMAGE OF MANHATTAN VIEW, LOOKING SOUTH IN A LARGE ROOM, 1996, #27/30" in pencil on verso gelatin silver print 18 1/16 x 22 1/2 in. (45.9 x 57.2 cm) paper: 20 x 24 in. (50.8 x 61 cm) 1996 this print is number 27 from an edition of 30 PROVENANCE From the artist to the Bonni Benrubi Gallery, NEW YORK Fraenkel Gallery, SAN FRANCISCO Private Collection LITERATURE Charles Simic and Jennifer R. Gross, ABELARDO MORELL: FACE TO FACE: PHOTOGRAPHS AT THE GARDNER MUSEUM, Boston, 1998, p. 19 (illustrated) Diana Gaston, ABELARDO MORELL AND THE CAMERA EYE, San Diego, 1998, p. 31 (illustrated) Keith F. Davis, AN AMERICAN CENTURY OF PHOTOGRAPHY FROM DRY-PLATE TO DIGITAL: THE HALLMARK PHOTOGRAPHIC COLLECTION, Kansas City, 1999, p. 3, fig. 2 (illustrated) Robert Hirsch, SEIZING THE LIGHT, New York, 2000, p. 462 (illustrated) Born in Havana, Aberlardo Morell works to challenge his viewers' perceptions. Although the present lot appears to be a double exposure, it actually uses the centuries-old optical device, Camera Obscura, a Latin term for dark room or chamber. The artist darkened the large room by covering the windows with plastic. He then made a 3/8-inch hole in the plastic facing a southern view of Manhattan. As the light rays passed through this tiny opening, they crossed paths and the image was projected upside-down. Morell then recorded this optical phenomenon during an eight-hour to two-day exposure, using a large-format camera. The end result is the magical image of the outside world hovering above the interior of the rooms, with buildings dangling into the space like stalactites. Morell utilizes this age-old device in an unprecedented manner, forcing us to open our minds and reconsider our understanding of sight and optical perception.
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