Adam Magyar
– December 8, 2013
Gallery talk Adam Magyar 5 PM
Gallery talk Jane Fulton Alt 6:15
This exhibition made possible by Light Work, Syracuse, NY
In his series, Kontinuum, Magyar uses an unconventional, high-performance digital camera that relies on scanning technology to speak about our urban world and people living an urban life.
Magyar has a fascination with the high-tech tools of our time, but remains devoted to the values of traditional photography.
Operating a machine-vision camera used in mass-production for scientific and industrial image processing, "Magyar catches moments in time and place that can neither be seen with the bare eye nor conventional optical camera," says Hannah Frieser, former Director of Light Work in Syracuse, NY. "The beautiful images combine the aesthetics of classic photography with a technology that redefines our understanding of linear time and singular space in a perfect blend of science and art."
Magyar explains, "The subway trains seemingly suspended in the tunnel are in fact arriving at the station at a at stunning speed. I could capture them moving with my high-speed slit camera that also enables me to achieve complete objectivity. The light is evenly distributed on the carriages, adding an unearthly glow to this urban underworld."
Magyar sees subways as the arteries of a city. "Through these temporary groups of passengers, I wonder about our transiency, see people immersed in their thoughts, but avoiding to reveal anything about themselves. They are stainless to the curious eye. The subways are just as stainless as their passengers."
Taking the Kontinuum project a step further, Magyar uses video and reverses his view. Instead of photographing from the subway platform, Magyar photographs from within the subway car, capturing people with a slow motion camera waiting for the train.
Magyar describes the images as, "An endless row of living sculptures brought together by the same subway line, the same direction, the same intention of taking the train to get caught and carried away by the urban flow. All their motions slowed down, they are graceful and stainless holding their breath, waiting for their train to pull into the station."
Magyar’s works have been exhibited in various solo and group shows internationally including Helsinki Photography Biennial in Finland; Museum of Fine Arts Houston (MFAH) Mixed Media event, the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University; Berlin Selected Artists exhibitions in Germany; the Ethnographic Museum Budapest; Faur Zsofi Gallery in Hungary; Rhubarb Rhubarb in the UK; and Karin Weber Gallery in Hong Kong.
His works are part of collections worldwide, such as Deutsche Bank, the Hong Kong Heritage Museum, and the Bidwell Projects. His photographs have been published in the book Life of Cities by the Graduate School of Design Harvard University, Light and Lens by Robert Hirsch, and in photography magazines including PDN and PQ Magazine in the USA, Flash Art in Hungary, Digital Camera Magazine in UK, and Katalog in Denmark. He lives in Berlin. His work can be viewed at www.magyaradam.com.