Walead Beshty

Beshty’s photograms and sculptures explore the nature of both the production and consumption of contemporary art. Only giving aesthetic sensibilities the briefest attention, Beshty is more preoccupied with how the art is made, and how this is evident in the work itself. His monumental photograms incorporate the camera-less, negative-less photographic process forged by early twentieth century artists Laszlo Moholy-Nagy and Man Ray, who produced their work by placing an object on photosensitive paper before exposing it. In a modern variation, Beshty uses new technologies and large-scale printers, creating unique images by folding, curling and shaping photographic paper and exposing it to different intensities of light. The resulting works are seductive, elusive abstractions, yet they are actually material representations of the very process of their creation, acting as concrete manifestations of a specific set of conditions.
Curls
Beshty creates his Curls by cutting a long piece of Fuji Crystal photography paper, from an industrial-sized roll, and attaching it to a magnetic wall in a darkroom. The edges of the paper are left free to bend. He then places a designated number of magnets on top of the paper before exposing the paper to coloured light. After the exposure, he removes and rotates the paper according to his plan, replacing the magnets in new positions, before employing different hues of light. With each exposure and each blind repositioning of paper and magnets, the colours projected from the enlarger overlap and mix together in ways that Beshty could never have predicted.

Exhibitions

Viewing room, Thomas Dane Gallery, London, April 2015

Art Basel Hong Kong, 2015