Paul Raphaelson
Encyclopedia
Paul Raphaelson is an American artist best known for urban
landscape
photography
.
In the early 1990s, after moving to Providence, Rhode Island
, he started producing formally complex, often dark depictions of the urban, suburban, and industrial
landscape. This work, which grew into the project titled "Wilderness" continued to evolve when Raphaelson moved to Brooklyn, New York in 1995. The work went unnoticed by the larger photography art world until it was discovered by Sandra Phillips of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
. It later caught the attention of former Museum of Modern Art
curator John Szarkowski
. Commercial galleries, on the other hand, struggled to find a place for the work, which blurs many lines between classic formal modernism, the politically aware "New Topographics" photography from the 1970s, highly crafted "fine art" photography, and more contemporary explorations of the banal and ironic.
Raphaelson's grandfather was the playwright and screenwriter Samson Raphaelson
, who practiced photography as an amateur in the 1950s and early 1960s.
Raphaelson's ongoing projects include explorations in color, digital carbon pigment printing, and hand-made artist's books.
Urban area
An urban area is characterized by higher population density and vast human features in comparison to areas surrounding it. Urban areas may be cities, towns or conurbations, but the term is not commonly extended to rural settlements such as villages and hamlets.Urban areas are created and further...
landscape
Landscape
Landscape comprises the visible features of an area of land, including the physical elements of landforms such as mountains, hills, water bodies such as rivers, lakes, ponds and the sea, living elements of land cover including indigenous vegetation, human elements including different forms of...
photography
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
.
In the early 1990s, after moving to Providence, Rhode Island
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
, he started producing formally complex, often dark depictions of the urban, suburban, and industrial
Industry
Industry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...
landscape. This work, which grew into the project titled "Wilderness" continued to evolve when Raphaelson moved to Brooklyn, New York in 1995. The work went unnoticed by the larger photography art world until it was discovered by Sandra Phillips of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is a modern art museum located in San Francisco, California. A nonprofit organization, SFMOMA holds an internationally recognized collection of modern and contemporary art and was the first museum on the West Coast devoted solely to 20th century art...
. It later caught the attention of former Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
curator John Szarkowski
John Szarkowski
John Szarkowski was a photographer, curator, historian, and critic. From 1962 to 1991 Szarkowski was the Director of Photography at New York's Museum of Modern Art.-Early life and career:...
. Commercial galleries, on the other hand, struggled to find a place for the work, which blurs many lines between classic formal modernism, the politically aware "New Topographics" photography from the 1970s, highly crafted "fine art" photography, and more contemporary explorations of the banal and ironic.
Raphaelson's grandfather was the playwright and screenwriter Samson Raphaelson
Samson Raphaelson
Samson Raphaelson was an American screenwriter and playwright.Born in New York City, Raphaelson worked on nine films with Ernst Lubitsch, including Trouble in Paradise , The Shop Around the Corner , Heaven Can Wait , and That Lady in Ermine...
, who practiced photography as an amateur in the 1950s and early 1960s.
Raphaelson's ongoing projects include explorations in color, digital carbon pigment printing, and hand-made artist's books.
Projects
- Lost Spaces, Found Gardens (2005 to present): Color work exploring the Bushwick section of Brooklyn, with forays into East Williamsburg, Manhattan the Brooklyn industrial waterfront.
- Wilderness (1994-2003): Black and white large format urban landscape work.
- Southwest (1988 to present): An ongoing exploration of the old and new in southern Colorado, including Colorado Springs, the Pueblo area, the San Luis Valley, central and southern Utah, and Arizona.
- Chicago (1988-1990): Selections from oldest work, including small camera cityscapes and street pictures.
Exhibitions
- Brooklyn Utopias?, group exhibit, Brooklyn Historical Society, 2009 - 2010
- Lost Spaces, Found Gardens, individual exhibit, Brooklyn Public Library, 2009
- Ten Years Under The Manhattan Bridge, individual exhibit, Brooklyn Public Library, 2008
- Brooklynature, juried exhibit, St. Joseph's College, Brooklyn, 2007
- Environment: Place, juried exhibit, Photomedia Center.org, 2005
- Emotional Distance, group exhibit, Gallery Sink, Denver, 2002
- Off The Highway, group exhibit, Gallery Sink, Denver, 2001
- Paul Raphaelson, individual exhibit, Monographs, Ltd., New York, 2000
- Urban Interpretations, group exhibit, Colorado College, Colorado Springs, 1999
- Off the Highway, group exhibit, David Floria Gallery, Aspen, Colorado, 1996
- Wilderness, individual exhibit, Gallery One, Providence, 1995
- Off the Highway, group exhibit, Robin Rule Modern and Contemporary, Denver, 1995
- Wilderness, individual exhibit, Cranston Public Library, Rhode Island, 1995
- Endangered Providence, group exhibit, Gallery One, Providence, 1995
- Chicago, individual exhibit, Colorado College, Colorado Springs, 1990