Aug 18, 2021
Aug 18, 2021

Rust

Rust

2014

Sara VanDerBeek

(American, b. 1976)

Digital C-print

Image: 198.1 x 121.9 cm (78 x 48 in.)

Gift of the Artist 2021.151

Edition: edition 1/3

Location

Did you know?

Since cities are constantly in transition, Sara VanDerBeek bases her city “portraits” on areas that are historically important or have undergone dramatic shifts.

Description

Rust was inspired by rusty metal roofing from the Alhambra apartments in the Cleveland neighborhood of Hough, which were demolished in 2011. VanDerBeek toned the image blue, a color that recalled for her “the quality of light and the presence of the sky and various materials throughout Cleveland,” blueprints in the studio of the late architect Robert Little, and cyanotypes, an early photographic process related to blueprints. The horizontal lines and gradually deepening color could be read as a seascape or the sky at dusk, transforming an image of urban decay into an image of natural beauty.

See also
Department: 
Photography
Type of artwork: 
Photograph
Credit line: 
Gift of the Artist

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