This week we featured the elegant architectural sculpture of Juan Ortí. In this companion post we look at black and white images and test what happens when the subtlety of color, no matter how nuanced, is extracted.
The Valencia-based artist makes minimal renditions of industrial-inspired forms like silos, tanks, and factories. In this series of photographs Ortí removes all color, it’s strictly grey-scale, and he brilliantly captures his own work photographically with perspectives that trick the viewer into a false sense of scale. Using dramatic angles, close-ups, Ortí creates the illusion that the pictures are of real buildings on a massive scale.
Click to enlarge.
The minimalism of the photos and their soaring perspectives brings an almost poetic calm to the work, which could otherwise conjure gloomy feelings of urban life and industrialization. They capture Ortí’s impressive precision and highlight the subtle tooling on the surface of the forms, reduced to two modeling tools, light and shade. The unglazed ceramic surface records the slightest scrapes, chattering, and sharp edges – beautiful details that bring soul to these versatile sculptures.
To see what these structures look like in their entirety, visit last our companion post and let us know in the comments what you think most flatters Ortí’s work, color or none.
Justin Crowe is Writer-at-Large for CFile.
Any thoughts about this post? Share yours in the comment box below.
Click to enlarge.
Click to enlarge.
Add your valued opinion to this post.