Inversion #14, 2017
Optical ilfochrome
30 x 30 in (76.2 x 76.2 cm)
Framed: 2-inch high black frame, mounted on gator archival board, 30 x 30 inches
Unique + AP
Signed on verso
DESCRIPTION from https://paddle8.com/work/h-spencer-young/176183-inversion-14/
"Inversion 14 (2017) doubles and inverts vernacular urban landscape photographs of lower Manhattan in-camera. Each print is exposed by hand. No two prints are identical. As an invitation for a collector to interact with the work, Inversion 14 can be installed in a variety of orientations, all valid, with any of the edge-pairs placed parallel to ground or rotated into a diamond position. Life can often feel like being marooned between wars of subjective realities, which, as it turns out, may be the only existing realities: Your ground might be my sky, and vice versa." - H Spencer Young
“Inversion 14 is a unique print from a fascinating series of lens-based artworks that represent the everyday urban scenery of lower Manhattan. This inventive work seems to be a contemporary revival of French photojournalism of the 20th century, with Young playing the part of a modern flâneur who seizes moments from the ordinary landscape while wandering in the city. Young challenges the norms of traditional photography, long considered the faithful representation of reality, in favor of a more subjective way of seeing the world. Young plays on the notion of reality and perception.
Experimenting with the medium of photography, the artist uses an innovative technique by which he modifies, doubles, and inverts the pictures so that his pieces can be hung upside down. The resulting image, characterized by oversaturated colors, invites the viewer to see the city anew, linking art with documentary photography.”
- Giuliana la Monaca, student at Sotheby’s Institute of Art, M.A. Art Business, New York.