Orlando Museum of Art

The sharply focused images in Architectural Intersections describe in great detail the condition of the outermost surfaces within a domestic space—the final layers of paint that seal off the interior spaces where we live. Yet, due to the monotonous and indistinct off-white walls and ceilings, specifics become generalities—the line between a particular place and an anonymous space is blurred. The focus of these new photographs are the points where the walls meet the ceiling, the intersections that define a room, as well as those locations where walls have been built around the architectural substructure and other internal components.

In addition to the disorientation and confusion caused by the simple gesture of displaying the prints upside-down, which magically transforms the ceiling into the floor, this altered perspective places extra emphasis on the basic building blocks of architectural spaces. The homogeneity of the surfaces in these images makes these photographed spaces appear not quite real, more like architectural models than actual, lived-in places. Yet, if one looks closely enough, it becomes apparent that what from a distance may appear to be a geometrically perfect structure, in fact contains flaws. An unevenly painted section of a wall, a straight line that is not absolutely straight, indentations, cracks, and bumps provide clues that enable one to relocate this ambiguous space back from the unreal to the real.

Dean Kessmann received his MFA from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and is currently an Associate Professor of Photography at The George Washington University, Washington, D.C. He has had recent solo exhibitions at Conner Contemporary Art, Washington, D.C. (2009) and Humanity Center Galleries, California State University, Chico, CA (2009). Kessmann’s exhibitions have been reviewed in a variety of publications, including the Art Papers, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, and most notably, ARTFORUM magazine. A catalogue was produced for his exhibition, Architectural Intersections, at Conner Contemporary Art in Washington, D.C. (2009), which includes an essay written by Karen Irvine, Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, IL.

This exhibition is part of the OMA’s new program, New Work: A Series of Bimonthly Exhibitions of Contemporary Art. This ongoing bimonthly exhibition series features new work by contemporary artists from Florida and around the country, emphasizing work that explores new media, installations and collaborative projects.

Images:

• Dean Kessmann, Untitled (Wisconsin House 5), 2009, archival pigment print, 18 ½ x 22 ½ in., Collection of the artist.
   
• Dean Kessmann, Untitled (Wisconsin House 8), 2009, archival pigment print, 28 ½ x 35 ½ in., Collection of the artist.
   
• Dean Kessmann, Untitled (Wisconsin House 2), 2009, archival pigment print, 28 ½ x 35 ½ in., Collection of the artist.
   

Event Pricing

• Admission: $0.00

Intended For

• Youth and Family
• Adults