Oleander Sunset

Inspired by artists like Edward Curtis and Charles Schulz, who devoted their lives to a single objective, Rudy VanderLans continues his pursuit to create a consistent body of work of postcard-size images, rendering a comprehensive portrait of California in the early part of the 21st century.

VanderLans, who is often drawn to places with fantastical names ― like Oleander Sunset ―wanders about California's back roads with eyes wide open. Without theorizing, or searching for subjects, he allows himself to be receptive to the world around him and discovers beauty in the most ordinary locales. Like the men who named the cities and towns he visits, VanderLans makes the mundane seem less so, and in the process shows us what’s been overlooked.

Oleander Sunset juxtaposes single images on opposing pages, setting up dynamic formal and contextual interactions through contrasting, complementing and reiteration. The book is interspersed with a number of fold-out panoramas, placing the viewer smack in the middle of the author's habitual stamping ground.

Rudy VanderLans is the co-founder of Emigre, Inc., a digital type foundry and publisher of type specimens and artist books based in Berkeley, California. From 1984 until 2005 Emigre published the renowned Emigre magazine, a quarterly publication devoted to visual communication. As a parallel interest, VanderLans has been photographing California since he moved there from the Netherlands in 1981.