deconarch

A little far away from me, but still an exhibition worth to see:

The Maryland Gallery in St. Louis (Missouri, USA) is showing an architectural photography show:

re:vision, a solo exhibition of Ken Konchel’s architecture photographs (March 14 – April 30, 2009).

Ken Konchel: Diamonds, 2008 (Detail of the Religious Center, a geodesic dome structure by R. Buckminster Fuller, 1971, at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville)

Ken Konchel: Sprint Surfaces, 2008 (a)

Ken Konchel’s b/w photographs show architecture in an abstracted, graphic way concentrating on form and shape, surfaces and patterns.  Mostly zoomed in on details, his buildings do not reveal themselves at once,  sometimes don’t even appear as part of a building at once. The photographer plays and arranges lines, planes, angles, curves in an an unconventional way, challening the viewer to new and unexpected perspectives. Thus architecture suddenly isn’t the common, being-around-us-every-day functional structures we hardly notice anymore, but an interesting sight worth a second or third glance.

As the photographer states, he is “drawn to the expressive power of buildings.” His intention is “to make  compelling photographs that remove the context and distill architecture to nothing but relationships of shape, line, pattern, detail, tone and/or surface.”

Why this interest in architecture? Konchel says:

Ken Konchel: Immacolata, 2008 (b)

“Architecture forms the physical environment of our lives.  It connects us to the past, it helps define our relationships to one another, and it gives us a sense of place and identity.  Architecture also embodies our values and expresses our individual and collective aspirations.  And most importantly, architecture enhances and advances our creative legacy.  Yet something so integral to the sense of who we are – something that contributes immeasurably to our quality of life – is often dismissed as mundane, taken for granted, or at worst ignored.  My ambition is to raise awareness of and appreciation for architecture by presenting it as engaging and dynamic geometric arrangements and interactions.  Through my photography, I hope to convey the value of patience and observation, and the power of making careful choices.”

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re:vision

An exhibition of photographs by Ken Konchel

Maryland Gallery, St. Louis, MO

March 14 – April 30, 2009

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(a) Ken Konchel: Sprint Surfaces, 2008 :

Detail of the glass façade of The Sprint Center in Kansas City, by 360 Architecture, Ellerbe Becket, HOK Sport & Rafael Architects, 2007; it also includes the metal-paneled College Basketball Experience, home to the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame)

(b) Ken Konchel: Immacolata, 2008:

Detail of the Church of the Immacolata, by Bernard McMahon, 1967