Amir Zaki: "At What Point is Wax No Longer Wax?"

May 3, 2007—June 2, 2007 | Reception Thursday, May 3rd, 6-8PM

James Harris gallery is pleased to present Amir Zaki’s newest series At What Point is the Wax no Longer Wax? With this group of photographs Zaki continues his exploration of the landscape in Southern California, but in this series the focus of the investigation turns away from the architectural elements of the built environment to the natural. In each image desolate shrubbery, like dying trees and tangled bushes, are boldly isolated against darkened landscapes.

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Amir Zaki

A firm believer in the transformative power of the photographic image, Zaki images are rooted in the history of the medium and uses it to shed light on the means of representation. Over the last 16 years, Zaki has pushed the physicality of the photograph’s two dimensional construct, allowing it to exist on its own and also exploring its own object-ness. In order to capture and record the original site, Zaki’s representations depict the complexity of place in terms of interactive evolving experience, an ongoing ecological intervention. The artist responds to the shifting contemporary landscape where nothing is permanent, constructing his own visual language to illustrate an entire mythology of place.

Amir Zaki lives and works in Southern California. He received his MFA from UCLA in 1999 and has been exhibiting nationally and internationally since graduating. He is a full professor at the University of California at Riverside. His work is included in many museum collections including the Hammer Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, New Museum of Contemporary Art, Orange County Museum of Art, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art, among others.