Yearly Archives: 2012

The City

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The City (2005-2013) moves indoors to a variety of architectural interiors that could be found in our own urban surroundings. While much of Nix and Gerber’s earlier work was grounded in personal experience, this series is more speculation. These public spaces lie deteriorating and neglected while nature slowly reclaims them. The reason for their decline is unclear, but the effects are not.

Unnatural History

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For Unnatural History, Lori Nix and Kathleen Gerber painstakingly construct tiny dioramas of rooms in imaginary natural history museums, and then photograph them in black and white. The final archival pigment prints are hilarious scenarios picturing madcap, behind-the-scenes possibilities, which highlight the curious oddity of our historic need to amass, conserve, and display elements of the natural world. Nix and Gerber’s photographs reference and bring to mind other contemporary artists inspired by the natural history museum and the often bizarre and awkward artifice inherent in the scientific presentation of the animal kingdom.

Lost

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With the series Lost (2003-2004), Nix and Gerber continue their investigation of the constructed landscape, this time examining feelings of isolation and loneliness. Like much of their previous work, this group of photographs blurs the line between truth and illusion. They subvert the traditions of landscape photography in order to create their own humorously dark world. Nix and Gerber’s images toy with romantic notions of landscape, and their lush, rich color and theatrical lighting magnify a sense of melancholy. The obvious artificiality of the scenes does not diminish the tension created in the photographs. In fact, this fake quality only serves to enhance the enjoyment of the illusion.

Some Other Place

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In 1999, Lori Nix and Kathleen Gerber transplanted themselves to New York City, bringing an urban feel to their photos. In the series, Some Other Place (2000-2002), neighborhood sidewalks, city parks, and forays into the wilderness were reconstructed, but with a darker sensibility than their earlier series. Nix and Gerber’s subdued color palette and increasingly complex compositions also reflect this change. In “Uranium Extraction Plant,” an eerily glowing factory perches on the edge of a cliff while translucent deer stand quietly in the stream below. “Floater” is at first glance a pleasant, bucolic scene. But on closer inspection, a suspicious shape can be found floating in the cattails in the foreground.

Accidentally Kansas

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Lori Nix and Kathleen Gerber have lived most of their lives in the rural Midwest. Childhoods spent playing in open fields and witnessing countless storms and natural disasters have left them with a deep affection for the American landscape. This shared love of the land and sky in its endless variations, and a fascination with the absurdities of life, has developed into a series of constructed environments that form the basis of their photographs. Nix and Gerber’s first series, Accidentally Kansas (1998-2000), recreated tornadoes, floods, insect infestations, and other bizarre events that punctuated their childhoods in the Midwest. Devastation and loss were treated with a light handling, resulting in scenes that were more tall tale than true story.