Document
Chicago, IL
Phillip Maisel
June 19 - July 18, 2015
Press Release:
Document is pleased to present Serengeti Green, a selection of new works by San Francisco based artist Phillip Maisel. The exhibition opens
on June 19th and will continue through July 18th.
Part of the allure of Phillip Maisel’s work is the challenge of deciphering exactly what you are looking at. He tips, stacks, slides, and tucks everyday
materials––paper, glass, mirrors, tape, Plexiglas––into intriguing, multi-layered scenes staged for the camera’s lens, blurring the boundaries between
sculpture, photography, and collage. Intuitively and meticulously constructed, these sculptural arrangements display a Bauhaus-inspired attention to
balancing the elements of line, form, and color. They are, however, fleeting constructions, items positioned precariously against walls only to be
dismantled once photographed.
Maisel often subtly reorients the same cast of objects through a series of images, playing with the variable effects of color, form, surface, reflectivity,
opacity and translucence on these mise-en-scènes. As the same elements reappear in multiple works, they gain distinct visual traction with each altered
formation. By photographing digitally, he can immediately review and evaluate each image. This process fundamentally informs the way materials are
are shifted and repositioned for subsequent photographs, which are ultimately presented as groupings or sequences.
-Allie Haeusslein, San Francisco, June 2015
Press:
Review: New City Art
Serengeti Green (1823), 2015. Archival pigment prints and color filter, 24" x 17"
Serengeti Green (1800), 2015. Archival pigment and neutral density filter, 20" x 15.5"
Serengeti Green (1809), 2015. Archival pigment prints, 24" x 17"
Serengeti Green (1800), 2015. Archival pigment print, 20" x 15.5"
Serengeti Green (1786), 2015. Archival pigment print, 24" x 17"
Serengeti Green (1831), 2015. Archival pigment prints, 24" x 17"
Detail of Serengeti Green (1831), 2015.
Detail of Serengeti Green (1836), 2015. Archival pigment print and scrim, 24" x 17"
Serengeti Green (1860), 2015.
Serengeti Green (1860), 2015. Archival pigment print, 24" x 17"
Serengeti Green (1861), 2015. Archival pigment prints, 24" x 17"
Detail of Serengeti Green (1861), 2015.
Serengeti Green (1847), 2015. Archival pigment print and scrim, 24" x 17"
Serengeti Green (1871), 2015. Archival pigment print and neutral density filter, 24" x 17"
Serengeti Green (1842), 2015. Archival pigment print, 24" x 17"
Serengeti Green (1844), 2015. Archival pigment print and neutral density filter, 24" x 17"
Detail of Serengeti Green (1861), 2015.