Fraenkel Gallery is pleased to present the survey exhibition Works 1985-2002: Circular Forms, from November 7 through December 28, 2002.
Since 1985, the photographs of Adam Fuss have been made primarily without a camera. While technology has facilitated a trend toward large, digitally enhanced color photographs, Fuss makes images pared down to the most essential elements of the medium: light and paper. Frequently referred to as a contemporary master of the photogram, Fuss creates images by positioning objects directly onto a photographic medium and then exposing the whole to light, a process practiced by early pioneers in photography such as Fox Talbot and Anna Atkins. The present survey is comprised of photograms, daguerreotypes, and pinhole photographs created over the past 17 years. Though the subject of each image differs from the next, the works are connected by the presence of a simple yet poignant visual element, the circle.
Often Fuss’s cyclical forms are recognizable; a web of ripples caused by a vibration on water’s surface or a luminous sunflower bloom. Other subjects, such as his large spiral light pieces, are ambiguous, produced by a flashlight suspended from a ceiling and allowed to swing in ever decreasing circles towards the center of a large sheet of photographic paper. Hued gels covering the lens of the flashlight determine the colors of the spirals. Fuss’ photographic methods, frequently contingent on chance occurrence, are analogous to his perceptions of the inherent mysteries in life, death, and birth.
Fuss’s work is currently the subject of a major survey at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and is included in the collections of major museums throughout the world.
