Camera Obscura Image of the Chrysler Building in Hotel Room
Artist
Abelardo Morell
(American I Cuban, b. 1948)
Artist/Maker
Abelardo Morell
(American I Cuban, b. 1948)
CultureAmerican | Cuban
Date1999
MediumGelatin silver print on aluminum
DimensionsOverall: 30 x 40 in. (76.2 x 101.6 cm)
InscribedSigned, titled and dated on recto. It is edition 7/15
Credit LineMuseum purchase, in memory of Alice R. and Sol B. Frank
Object number2003.13
Not on view
DescriptionThis is a gelatin silver print mounted on aluminum of a hotel room with an inverted image of the New York skyline, featuring the Chrysler Building. Within the room is an armchair in front of a framed picture, flanked by light fixtures. The bed covers are lightly ruffled, and another framed piece hangs on the wall adjacent. The inverted skyline extends from the ceiling to the floor, casting a shadow over the walls. The Chrysler Building's spire stretches across the floor.Label TextAbelardo Morell Cuban-American (b. 1948) Camera Obscura Image of the Chrysler Building in Hotel Room, 1999 Gelatin silver print Museum purchase, in memory of Alice R. and Sol B. Frank 2003.13 Morell has used the basic principle of photography to create a unique body of work. To comprehend this image one first needs an understanding of how the camera obscura operates. Briefly, it is the exact same principle found in the eyeballs of humans and a variety of animals. Light, reflecting off a subject and entering a darkened enclosed space through a tiny hole-a pinhole-creates an inverted visible image of the subject that registers on a surface parallel to the plane of the pinhole. This phenomenon is known as a camera obscura. This word comes from the Latin and means dark chamber. It is a device that has been employed by artists for centuries and it was this method that caused Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre and William Henry Fox Talbot to invent photography when they wondered how they could fix permanently the image of the camera obscura. Turning rooms into camera obscuras, Morell photographs the entire scene using traditional processes. The image seen here is created by the interplay between the projected camera obscura image and the features of the room. Edited By: DS Edited Date: 2006 Approved By: DS Approval Date: 01/31/2007ProvenanceBonni Benrubi Gallery; Museum Purchase, in memory of Alice R. and Sol B. Frank, 2003. Exhibition History"Abelardo Morell," Fahey Klein Gallery, Los Angeles, Calif., 1999; Bassetti Gallery, New Orleans, La., 1999. **This image was exhibited, not this print.** "Abelardo Morell and the Camera Eye," Foster Gallery, Museum of Fine Art, Boston, Mass., Feb. 17 - April 11, 1999; Metropolitan Museum of Art, Tokyo, Japan, 1999; The St. Louis Art Museum, 2000; LeHigh University Art Galleries, Bethlehem, Pa., 2000; University Art Museum, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, N.M., 2000; Bayly Art Museum of the University of Virginia at Charlottesville, Va., 2001; Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, Mich., 2001; George Eastman House, Rochester, N.Y., 2002. **This image was exhibited, not this print.** "Staged and Manipulated: Photographic Fictions from St. Louis Collections," The St. Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, Mo., 2000. **This image was exhibited, not this print.** "The Universe Next Door," Bonni Benrubi Gallery, New York, N.Y., 2000. **This image was exhibited, not this print.** "Building Representation: Photography and Architecture, Contemporary Interaction," Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass., 2001. **This image was exhibited, not this print.** "New York Now 2000," The Museum of the City of New York, N.Y., 2001. **This image was exhibited, not this print.** "Can You Believe Your Eyes?" Fitchburg Art Museum, Fitchburg, Mass., 2001. **This image was exhibited, not this print.** "Camera Obscura," Shine Gallery, London, England, 2002. **This image was exhibited, not this print.** "What Were You Thinking? 15 Years of Photographs," Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago, Ill., 2002. **This image was exhibited, not this print.** "Histories of Photography," Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, N.Y., 2003. **This image was exhibited, not this print.** "Abelardo Morell: 1987-2003," Bernard Toale Gallery, Boston, Mass., 2003. "Cities of Light: Photographs from the Chrysler Collection," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, February 15 - October 21, 2012.
