Deconstruction

Artist Anthony Goicolea American, born 1971

Date2007

MediumChromogenic print mounted on aluminum and laminated with Plexiglas

Dimensions72 x 117 1/2 in. (182.9 x 298.5 cm)

ClassificationsPhotography

Credit LineGift of Allen G. Thomas Jr. in memory of Carolyn Thomas Marley

Object number2009.13

On View

Not on view

Label TextIn Almost Safe Goicolea’s large-scale, black-and-white photographs challenge the viewer’s interpretation of normalcy and possibility, as the artist digitally merges numerous scenes of landscapes photographed from all over the world (Paris, Greenland, New York, Vancouver, and many other places) to create surreal, warped realms. Familiar elements, such as the dilapidated building in Deconstruction, become perplexing and alien upon second glance. A closer look reveals numerous individuals, sleeping in hammocks and dwelling in an utterly inhospitable environment. These figures are so small they are almost missed if a viewer is too hasty, their importance lessened in order to promote the vastness of the landscape. Is this a postapocalyptic world? Such images boggle the mind. Troublesome yet inviting, these wastelands solicit the viewer to linger and further examine these works.
[L. Dougherty, 2011]ProvenanceCreated New York, 2007; collection of the artist; [Postmasters Gallery, New York]; Allen G. Thomas Jr., Wilson, NC; given to NCMA, 2009.
Published ReferencesFictions: Anthony Goicolea (Santa Fe: Twin Palms Publishers, 2009), illus. 154-155.

Alter Ego: A Decade of Work by Anthony Goicolea (exhibition catalogue) (Raleigh and Savannah: North Carolina Museum of Art and Telfair Museums, 2011), illus. pl. 33, listed and illus. 119.
Exhibition HistoryNew York, NY, Postmasters Gallery, "Anthony Goicolea: Almost Safe," April 28-June 2, 2007.

Winston-Salem, NC, Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA), "People and Places: Selections from the Allen Thomas Jr. Photography Collection," March 14-June 30, 2008.

Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "Alter Ego: A Decade of Work by Anthony Goicolea," April 17-July 24, 2011; Savannah, GA, Telfair Museums: Jepson Center, September 2, 2011-January 8, 2012; Louisville, KY, 21c Museum, January 27-July 15, 2012.
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