Amir Zaki's work explores the urban landscape through photography, video and sound. Using both public and private space as object, Zaki investigates the physical realities and ambiguities of perception and the mechanics of representation. Exhibited are photographs that consciously explore these issues.

Seemingly “natural” visual observation is counter-posed by a conceptual reality. Zaki uses computer technology and processing to control the presence of the final object. The images illustrate the fringe of photographic realism and the digital. For this new series of photographs, Zaki began by placing the camera on the ground in front of suburban homes. He then digitally compressed the architecture of the house to reveal emptiness through layered space. The large vertical format is human in scale. Accompanying these architectural photos are images of weeds, photographed when they have been first pulled from the ground and then again a day later. Zaki placed the two different time periods of the weeds on solid blue ground creating a gesture of life and death. This new work investigates the death of straight photography with it the coming of the digital. This playful give and take of all the work further illustrates Zaki’s investment in making images that create a subtle sense of illusion by ironically attempting to approach realism.

A color catalogue with an essay by ArtForum writer Bruce Hainley accompanied the exhibition and can be purchased for 15 dollars. If you would like to purchase this catalog, please email.