Richard Misrach: The Writing on the Wall

Photographing the graffiti found in desolate areas of Southern California, Arizona, and Nevada, the artist remarks, “In our age of relentless posting on social media, it is remarkable that people choose abandoned homes and remote rock formations as canvases for political expression. These are the hieroglyphics of our time.”

Color photograph of a painting of a woman with green skin on a wooden wall
Color image of graffiti on brick wall with cloudy sky and mountains in partial view
Color photograph of black spray-painted writing reading FUCK NAZIS on a tile floor covered in debris
Color photograph of a black spray-painted face and writing on the side of a low wooden clapboard house
Color photograph of a black spray-painted circle at the end of a white hallway of an abandoned building
Color photograph of a simple black spray-painted face and shoulders on a white wall
Color photograph of spray-painted black writing on two large rocks
Color photograph of a black spray-painted square divided into fourths on an upright yellowish rock
Color photograph of black spray-painted writing on a peeling and partly-demolished white and wooden wall
Color photograph of the spray-painted interior of an abandoned brick building with a hole in the floor leading to the lower level
Color photograph of fluorescent red spray-painted writing on an interior cinderblock wall of an abandoned building
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Related Portfolios

Color photograph of the US/Mexico border with a mountain range in the distance with pinkish blue skies

Richard Misrach: Border Cantos
Color photograph of expansive view of water in bleached wood frame

Richard Misrach: On The Beach
Color photograph of the distant Golden Gate Bridge under a linear break in the clouds

Richard Misrach: Golden Gate
Color photograph of a road receding into the distant desert with red-orange tablelands and snow-capped mountains on the horizon

Richard Misrach: Desert Cantos