Marco Breuer: Early Recordings - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1597110337 ISBN 13: 9781597110334

Publisher: Aperture, 2007

Synopsis

"Early Recordings" presents the first comprehensive look at the work of the respected, conceptually driven artist, Marco Breuer. Boldly experimental, Breuer uses an extensive and continually evolving range of processes to extract abstract and visually compelling images from photographic paper. Whether it involves placing burning coals on the photographic paper, repeatedly slicing into it or sanding away at the emulsion until holes appear, Breuer's work eviscerates the usual expectations of the camera-less image. The Minimalistic end results are surprisingly exquisite, and this oversized volume reproduces them with attention to every slice, abrasion and color shift. The images function as "recordings" of the artist's actions, so that only the trace of impact and Breuer's expended energy remain. The revered photography critic Vince Aletti describes Breuer's work as having "the intelligence and wit of the midcentury Modernist avant-garde and the anything-goes audacity of photography's earliest innovators." A limited edition of 30 copies of this book is also available, slip-cased and hand-altered by the artist.

About this title

About the Author:

Marco Breuer was born in Landshut, Germany, in 1966. Exhibited widely, his work is in the collections of the Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Museum of Modern Art, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; and Staatsgalerie Stuttgart in Germany. He is represented by the Von Lintel Gallery, New York, and he lives in upstate New York.

Review:

"Made without camera or film, these lush, textured works, collected in Breuer's 2007 book Early Recordings, defy our basic notions of what photography can be." -- Eric Bryant --ARTNews

"These abstract images record his actions - be it burning coals on the photographic paper or slicing into it or sanding away at the emulsion until holes appear. These minimalist 'traces' are visually arresting and interesting to explore. The book is nice too with holes punched through the cover like so many bubbles, to reveal the pattern of the image on the inside page." --HotShoe

"Breuer's approach to photography refers back to the earlier days of photography through his experimental use of silver gelatin, cyanotype and gum bichromate. This book contains samples from 8 bodies of work, a wonderful essay by Mark Alice Durant and a wealth of information about each portfolio's process." --Photo-Eye

"Whether it involved placing burning coals on the photographic paper, repeatedly slicing into it or sanding away at the emulsion until holes appear, Breuer's work eviscerates the usual expectations of the camera-less image. The minimalistic end results are surprisingly exquisite, and this oversized volume reproduces them with attention to every slice, abrasion and color shift." -- Brian McAvera --Index

About this edition

• Publisher: Aperture
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 1597110337
• ISBN 13: 9781597110334
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 88