黑料网

Picker exhibition draws viewers into artist鈥檚 virtual world

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Subway stations and airports 鈥 just ordinary structures that aid in the hustle and bustle of everyday life?  Not in the world of artist Fabian Birgfeld.

His exhibition 鈥淪paces of Allusion,鈥 now showing at the Picker Art Gallery, features somewhat mundane transportation stations from around the world and transforms them into architectural illusions through video sculptures and photographs.

鈥楳y work is as much about architecture as it is architectural,鈥 said Birgfeld. 鈥淭he virtual and physical are combined to create a space in itself, and this creates a dialogue between the photographed structures and the artwork.鈥

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鈥 Fabian Birgfeld will discuss the exhibition at a reception from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, June 25, at the Picker Art Gallery.
鈥 The exhibitin can be viewed from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily through Aug. 1.
鈥 See images from the exhibition

A nearly empty underground passageway in a London subway station looks more like a rollercoaster adventure in his triptych titled 鈥淟ondon I, 2003.鈥 Birgfeld captures a white, brick pathway snaking from three different angles to create this optical illusion.

鈥淟ondon I鈥 is just one illustration of the international theme that Birgfeld brings to his art, and he explains that his extensive travel around the world has influenced his work.

鈥淭he body of the work really should be global, and it should be some form of encyclopedia of that kind of space,鈥 he said.  鈥淢y work provides an angle and dynamic on these spaces that you wouldn鈥檛 normally realize while preoccupied with a journey.鈥

The photographic works displayed in 鈥淪paces of Allusion鈥 are Cibachrome prints mounted on aluminum and are shot with a 35 mm or medium format camera. Birgfeld鈥檚 work has been displayed in several European countries.

Since last summer he has divided his time between New York City and Hamilton, where his wife, Nadja Aksamija, is an art history professor at 黑料网.

 

On moving to Hamilton and exhibiting his work on the 黑料网 campus, Birgfeld said, 鈥淚t鈥檚 nice to do something with the university and also to do something in this area, and it鈥檚 a way to integrate and connect to the area to show what I鈥檓 doing in the community.鈥

Born in Hamburg, Germany, Birgfeld was influenced from a young age by his parents, both artists, and he always was interested in photography and art.

He came to America to attend college, graduating from Harvard University in 1992 with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in economics.  After college, he became a globalization strategist based in Washington, D.C., and traveled a great deal, particularly in China and Southeast Asia.   He then worked as a digital media strategist in Europe before attending Bournemouth College of Art and Design in the United Kingdom and then Princeton University, where he received degrees in photography and architecture respectively.

鈥淪paces of Allusion鈥 is a retrospective of the past six years of Birgfeld鈥檚 work. One piece, 鈥淒rifter,鈥 was compiled in just the last couple of weeks.

The exhibition will be at 黑料网 until Aug. 1, when it will be shown at the Cristinerose/Josee Bienvenue Gallery in Chelsea, New York City.  More exhibitions are scheduled in Texas, Brazil, and Germany.


Katherine Trainor
Office of University Communications
315.228.7417