honorable mention
Austin Irving united states
title
NOT AN EXIT
- Hugh Ferriss, The Metropolis of Tomorrow, 1929
NOT AN EXIT is a collection of large format photographs that proposes a closer examination of the nondescript interiors that we routinely pass through; doorways and hallways, spaces intended for movement but here, somehow appear impenetrable. Irving transforms these dead ends into studies on the architecture—spatial and psychological—of confinement, straddling the boundary of absurdist and unsettling. Both banal and bizarre, the Kafkaesque quirks and the illusionistic geometry of these locations draw the eye deep into the picture, only to be thwarted in its progress through the space. Presented as close-to-life-size Type-C prints, the scale and repetitive compositional elements of these images evoke a methodology of clinical examination and categorization of the liminal spaces we routinely pass through and yet often never truly see. We are going somewhere and yet — there seems to be no way out.
Irving currently lives in Los Angeles and is represented by Wilding Cran Gallery.
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entry description
“The character of the architectural forms and spaces which all people habitually encounter are powerful agencies in determining the nature of their thoughts, their emotions and their actions, however unconscious of this they may be.”- Hugh Ferriss, The Metropolis of Tomorrow, 1929
NOT AN EXIT is a collection of large format photographs that proposes a closer examination of the nondescript interiors that we routinely pass through; doorways and hallways, spaces intended for movement but here, somehow appear impenetrable. Irving transforms these dead ends into studies on the architecture—spatial and psychological—of confinement, straddling the boundary of absurdist and unsettling. Both banal and bizarre, the Kafkaesque quirks and the illusionistic geometry of these locations draw the eye deep into the picture, only to be thwarted in its progress through the space. Presented as close-to-life-size Type-C prints, the scale and repetitive compositional elements of these images evoke a methodology of clinical examination and categorization of the liminal spaces we routinely pass through and yet often never truly see. We are going somewhere and yet — there seems to be no way out.
about the photographer
Born and raised in New York City, Austin Irving is a visual artist who works with large format analog photography. Irving graduated with a BFA from the Department of Photography and Imaging at NYU’s TISCH School Of The Arts in 2006. Her artwork has been exhibited in galleries and museums in Hong Kong, India, Germany, France, and across The United States. In 2020, her projects SHOW CAVES and NOT AN EXIT won first place at The Budapest International Foto Awards in the Science and Architecture categories. In 2019, her projects NOT AN EXIT and PLANTS IN EXILE were both awarded the gold prize at The PX3 Prix De La Photographie in the Fine Art/Architecture and Nature/Trees categories. She was an Artist-In-Residence at the National Center for Biological Sciences in Bangalore, India in 2017 and aboard The S.S. Vallejo at The Varda Artist Residency in Sausalito, CA in 2019. Her images have been featured in The LA Times, Wired, Slate, Architectural Digest, LA Weekly, PDN, Art Ltd., Artillery, TimeOut NY, The International Herald Tribune, The Huffington Post, Frontrunner, Artsy, Voyage LA, Yatzer, and Artweek LA. Irving currently lives in Los Angeles and is represented by Wilding Cran Gallery.Irving currently lives in Los Angeles and is represented by Wilding Cran Gallery.
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