Glenn Wexler is an artist living in Chicago, Illinois. His current show Illumination Unfolded: Works of the Urban Landscape is hanging at Zolla/Lieberman Gallery in Chicago until February 10. Check out more of his work at his website.

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“The artworks and installation presented at my current exhibition at the Zolla/Lieberman Gallery in Chicago were created from photographs shot along my path through various metropolitans and represents a portion of my ongoing study of the urban setting. As part of my practice, I document a variety of subjects within a city landscape, including many sources of illumination. The circular acrylic panels, the Lights Unfolded Series, feature manipulated nighttime stills of distant lights in motion and are meant to draw parallels between photography, painting, and design. In this body of work, my intentions are to evoke seduction, mystery, and examine the allure of light and the uncertainty it sometimes presents. For me, the glowing layered photographic images tell an ever-unfolding story of life against the backdrop of an evolving city.”

 

For me, the glowing layered photographic images tell an ever-unfolding story of life against the backdrop of an evolving city

“While in transit through a metropolis I often find myself drawn to odd intersections of relatively nondescript clusters of buildings, usually around small plazas, streets, and alleyways. I consider these isolated microcosms as forums for exploration and choose to document them as part of my urban study. I also feel a sense of optimism in these environments; I see them as places for contemplation and transformation. In the Tree Series, this outlook is demonstrated by the use of the chrome silver outline surrounding the image of the dead tree placed in each photograph. The almost floating outline, a converted drawing, suggests that this seemingly lifeless tree can yet survive and blossom into full maturity. The reflections in the mirrored application create a constant changing narrative relating to the background, foreground, and viewer of each composition. The semi-artificial depictions comment on the constant progression or altering of the urban architectural landscape and how nature, culture, and society find its place within it.”

 

The almost floating outline, a converted drawing, suggests that this seemingly lifeless tree can yet survive and blossom into full maturity

“The printed vinyl media wall installation, Transformer, presents a repeated photograph of a decayed building, shot on Chicago’s near west side, superimposed over a bursting image of colored illumination. This installation attempts to peer into the past and potential future of the inner-city site and continues much of the same thought process used to create many of my works.” 

 

 

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