Footage from the opening reception at Von Lintel Gallery. Courtesy NYC Gallery Openings.

Marco Breuer, otherwise known as the “photographer without a camera,” has built a strong reputation over the course of the last 20 years exploring lens-less “photogenic” art. While many photographers today are employing more and more complex technology in their work, the German conceptual artist and 2006 Guggenheim fellow says his is an “ongoing attempt to strip down the photographic process, to remove the distractions of equipment, and to force imagery out of photographic paper itself.”

His latest solo exhibition Condition (on view at Von Lintel Gallery through June 23, 2012) presents work he made in and out of the darkroom, stressing photographic paper by exposing it to heat, light, and physical abrasion with “coal, sandpaper, heat guns, burning swaths of cotton, electric frying pans, and other unexpected objects,” as one interviewer catalogues.

Ranging from small photographic sketches, to larger 30 by 40-inch prints, “every individual piece constitutes a search, a move away from the given, a test of the materials’ limits,” the press release states. He fuses image and medium, “rendering them inseparable, one and the same.”

In 2007, Aperture published his monograph Early Recordings, the first comprehensive look at his boldly experimental work, alongside a limited edition slip-cased book which comes with a unique-to-each-edition Polaroid print. His work is also featured in Lyle Rexer’s sold out book, The Edge of Vision (Aperture 2009).

Read John Yau’s review of Breuer’s solo exhibition on HyperAllergic. View installation shots and photos from the opening reception on May 10, 2012 on the Von Lintel Gallery blog. And read interviews with the artist about his work on ARTLOG and on MPR.

Marco Breuer: Condition
Exhibition on view:
May 10 – June 23, 2012

Von Lintel Gallery
520 West 23 Street
New York, New York 10011
(212) 242-0599

Artist Gerald Slota and Work Scholars, Photo by Elina Ruka

Anders Petersen install at Marvelli gallery, Photo by Elina Ruka

It is a great privlege to hear about a great photograph from the photographer himself. This past week Aperture Work Scholars had the opportunity to meet artists and gallerists at several new exhibitions in Chelsea.

The tour began with an artist led walkthrough of Gerald Slota’s recent collaboration with playwright Neil LaBute at Ricco Maresca gallery before continuing on to artist Marco Breuer’s show at Von Lintel gallery, concluding with a sneak-peak of Anders Petersen’s new exhibition at Marvelli gallery.

A new exhibit of works by artist Gerald Slota, who was featured in Aperture issue 196 , Home Sweet Home was created through correspondence with celebrated playwright, screenwriter and movie director Neil LaBute. The series, on view at Ricco Maresca gallery, explores ‘the sordid family secret’ at times verging on black humor. Slota’s charasmatic story-telling brought the exhibit to life. During a Q&A session we discovered the importance of experimentation in Gerald’s image making process.

At Von Lintel gallery we met the gallery co-director Dana Greenidge who gave us a detailed tour of Marco Breuer’s exhibit. Marco Breuer’s monograph Early Recordings was published by Aperture and showcased a survey of the artist’s conceptually driven work. His new exhibit Nature of the Pencil combines photographic elements with performative writings and drawings.

A sneak-peak of City Diary by Anders Petersen, who was featured on the cover of Aperture issue 198, on view at Marvelli gallery which had yet to open to the public at the time of our tour, revealed a marvelous black-and-white photographic journey through the honest and passionate human relations depicted in Petersen’s work. The photographer himself greeted us briefly before rushing away to finish installing the show.

This Work Scholar post is by Elina Ruka who currently interns for both the Sales and Limited-Edition Photographs Departments.

Elina is a recent graduate of Ecoles de Conde in France where she studied photography. Her favorite Aperture books are Kamaitachi and Winter Stories among others. Elina, coming from Latvia, loves to discover New York, lives in the moment, and documents her experiences in photographs and words on her blog.