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Silence, (Fajada Butte, Chaco Canyon National Historic Park,) New Mexico, 2022, Chromogenic Print, 76,2 x 101,6 cm -
Eye into the Sky, (Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument), Utah, 2020, Chromogenic Print, 101,6 x 76,2 cm
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Light, composition, and color are at the forefront of his practice, producing works through an analog, monochrome printing process. This project is part of an ongoing investigation into the artist's own relationship with the natural world, the resulting works serving as a conduit for all of us, eloquently showcasing the beauty, exploitation, and identity politics intrinsic to Western Landscape photography.
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Santa Elena Canyon, (Big Bend National Park), Texas, 2022, Chromogenic Print 180,3 x 225,4 cm
The artist states:
“My art practice has evolved over the last fifteen years to primarily focus on threatened landscapes of the Western United States. In my desire to preserve these lands, I’m weaving together the tradition of large-format landscape photography with issues of identity while using color, beauty and scale as a tool to create emotional resonance. As a queer person I’m interested in challenging the West’s colonialist trope of the rugged (straight, white, male) individualist to present a much needed, more inclusive discourse around the region and its preservation. I mural-print my color photographs with an alternative darkroom process, in which I create a vibrant monochrome wash that veils the image, drawing tonal inspiration from the natural environment to determine the final print color. The dramatic size and coloration of the print provides an additional layer of experience to the work, akin to my own experience traveling through these spiritual places and witnessing the spectacle firsthand. My travels have also become a tool for processing the American queer experience as I navigate through rural spaces and communities stereotypically considered unsafe for queer people; queer narrativity and a sense of otherness is built into both the process and product of the work. The color and scale is meant to help enhance recognition, understanding, meaning and empathy for these fragile and threatened landscapes. My work is spawned by what is often described as climate grief, as many of us collectively mourn the loss of entire ecosystems. I use photography as a means to see, understand and commune with our sacred landscape in new, provocative ways.” -
Desire, (Big Bend National Park), Texas, 2021, Chromogenic Print, 127 x 101,6 cm
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Biography
David Benjamin Sherry (b. 1981, Stony Brook, NY) currently lives and works in Santa Fe, NM. He received a BFA from Rhode Island School of Design in 2003, and his MFA from Yale University in 2007. A few highlights of his career include exhibiting at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, MA, “Ansel Adams In Our Time” (2018), Saatchi Gallery, London UK, “Out of Focus: Photography” 2012), Sotheby’s New York City, “These Days” (2011), MoMA PS1, Long Island City, NY, “Greater New York 2010” (2010). His work is in permanent collections at The Alfond Collection of Contemporary Arts, Cornell Fine Arts Museum; Charles Saatchi Collection, London; Hood Museum of Art; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Marciano Art Foundation; The Nasher Museum of Art; RISD Museum; Walker Art Center; Wexner Center for the Arts; and the Whitney Museum of American Art. -
In light of the artist's environmental commitment, Sherry was awarded the Seal of Recognition by the California State Senate for his dynamic landscape work in California’s National Parks. His works have been featured in several well-renowned publications such as The New York Times Magazine, Vogue, The New Yorker Magazine, Wall Street Journal, Aesthetica Magazine, Foam, Time out New York, Time out London, Aperture Magazine and Bullet Magazine, to name a few. -
For enquiries into the works by David Benjamin Sherry, click on one of the buttons below:
Unseen 2023, 21 - 24 Sep
