51����

Subway stations and airports — just ordinary structures that aid in the hustle and bustle of everyday life?  Not in the world of artist Fabian Birgfeld.

His exhibition “Spaces of Allusion,” now showing at the Picker Art Gallery, features somewhat mundane transportation stations from around the world and transforms them into architectural illusions through video sculptures and photographs.

‘My work is as much about architecture as it is architectural,” said Birgfeld. “The virtual and physical are combined to create a space in itself, and this creates a dialogue between the photographed structures and the artwork.”

A nearly empty underground passageway in a London subway station looks more like a rollercoaster adventure in his triptych titled “London I, 2003.” Birgfeld captures a white, brick pathway snaking from three different angles to create this optical illusion.

“London I” is just one illustration of the international theme that Birgfeld brings to his art, and he explains that his extensive travel around the world has influenced his work.

“The body of the work really should be global, and it should be some form of encyclopedia of that kind of space,” he said.  “My work provides an angle and dynamic on these spaces that you wouldn’t normally realize while preoccupied with a journey.”

The photographic works displayed in “Spaces of Allusion” are Cibachrome prints mounted on aluminum and are shot with a 35 mm or medium format camera. Birgfeld’s work has been displayed in several European countries.

Since last summer he has divided his time between New York City and Hamilton, where his wife, Nadja Aksamija, is an art history professor at 51����.

On moving to Hamilton and exhibiting his work on the 51���� campus, Birgfeld said, “It’s nice to do something with the university and also to do something in this area, and it’s a way to integrate and connect to the area to show what I’m doing in the community.”

Born in Hamburg, Germany, Birgfeld was influenced from a young age by his parents, both artists, and he always was interested in photography and art.

He came to America to attend college, graduating from Harvard University in 1992 with a bachelor’s degree in economics.  After college, he became a globalization strategist based in Washington, D.C., and traveled a great deal, particularly in China and Southeast Asia.   He then worked as a digital media strategist in Europe before attending Bournemouth College of Art and Design in the United Kingdom and then Princeton University, where he received degrees in photography and architecture respectively.

“Spaces of Allusion” is a retrospective of the past six years of Birgfeld’s work. One piece, “Drifter,” was compiled in just the last couple of weeks.

The exhibition will be at 51���� until Aug. 1, when it will be shown at the Cristinerose/Josee Bienvenue Gallery in Chelsea, New York City.  More exhibitions are scheduled in Texas, Brazil, and Germany.

Katherine Trainor
Office of University Communications
315.228.7417