Mitch Epstein: American Power
5 November - 23 December 2011
Open Eye Gallery is proud to present American photographer Mitch Epstein’s first solo show in the UK, as the opening exhibition at our new Waterfront gallery.
American Power (2003-9) examines how energy is produced and used in the American landscape, questioning the power of nature, government and corporations. Epstein was awarded the prestigious Prix Pictet photographic award in March 2011 for this body of work, which offers a radical reflection on “the American Dream gone awry”.
The project began in 2003 when Epstein photographed a small town in Ohio after compulsory land purchase by the American Electric Power company. He went on to document 25 US States over a period of six years, producing a prolific body of work that depicts the effects of mass consumption.
Highly regarded internationally for his outstanding work with colour photography since the 1970s, Epstein’s provocative images capture, with meticulous detail, the foundations of life in a society driven by ideals.
Born in 1952, Mitch Epstein studied at The Cooper Union in New York under the professorship of Garry Winogrand. His photographs are in numerous museum collections including New York’s Metropolitan Museum, Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the UK’s Tate Gallery.
Mitch Epstein currently lives in New York. He is represented by Thomas Zander Galerie in Cologne.
“…a collection of images which manage to be both contemporary and timeless”
Sean O’Hagan, The Guardian
Open Eye Gallery is proud to present American photographer Mitch Epstein’s first solo show in the UK, as the opening exhibition at our new Waterfront gallery.
American Power (2003-9) examines how energy is produced and used in the American landscape, questioning the power of nature, government and corporations. Epstein was awarded the prestigious Prix Pictet photographic award in March 2011 for this body of work, which offers a radical reflection on “the American Dream gone awry”.
The project began in 2003 when Epstein photographed a small town in Ohio after compulsory land purchase by the American Electric Power company. He went on to document 25 US States over a period of six years, producing a prolific body of work that depicts the effects of mass consumption.
Highly regarded internationally for his outstanding work with colour photography since the 1970s, Epstein’s provocative images capture, with meticulous detail, the foundations of life in a society driven by ideals.
Born in 1952, Mitch Epstein studied at The Cooper Union in New York under the professorship of Garry Winogrand. His photographs are in numerous museum collections including New York’s Metropolitan Museum, Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the UK’s Tate Gallery.
Mitch Epstein currently lives in New York. He is represented by Thomas Zander Galerie in Cologne.
“…a collection of images which manage to be both contemporary and timeless”
Sean O’Hagan, The Guardian
