Cultural Microcosm

Cultural Microcosm

James Casebere (b. 1953) is renowned for a pioneering use of models in his constructed photographs. Closely associated with the Pictures Generation, the artist’s early practice was characteristic of the postmodern cultural appropriation of his peers. Architectural and contemporary references populate the otherwise uninhabited work of the past four decades, which encompasses large-scale sculptural installations alongside tabletop constructions. Landscape with Houses (2009) represents a continuation of Casebere’s interest in suburban America. These illusionistic models, meticulously assembled by hand, against composite digital backgrounds, were inspired by the subprime mortgage crisis of 2008. Whilst travelling in upstate New York, the artist was struck by the sprawl of urban development. Casebere’s work features in the collections of New York’s Guggenheim and Metropolitan museums and at the Tate, in London. www.jamescasebere.com.