Lewis Baltz (Duke, 1945 - 2014)
Lewis Baltz
Lewis "Duke" Baltz was an American visual artist, photographer, and educator. He was an important figure in the New Topographics movement of the late 1970s. His best known work was monochrome photography of suburban landscapes and industrial parks which highlighted his commentary of void within the "American Dream". His work is focused on searching for beauty in desolation and destruction. Baltz's images describe the architecture of the human landscape: offices, factories and parking lots. His pictures are the reflection of control, power, and influenced by and over human beings. His books and exhibitions, his "topographic work", such as The New Industrial Parks, Nevada, San Quentin Point, Candlestick Point, expose the crisis of technology and define both objectivity and the role of the artist in photographs. He wrote for many journals, and contributed regularly to L'Architecture d'Aujourd'hui. Baltz's work is held in the collections of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Tate Modern, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Whitney Museum of American Art etc.
| Nickname: | Duke |
|---|---|
| Date and place of birt: | 12 september 1945, Newport Beach, USA |
| Date and place of death: | 22 november 2014, Paris, France |
| Nationality: | France, USA |
| Period of activity: | XX, XXI century |
| Specialization: | Landscape painter, Photographer |
| Genre: | Cityscape, Industrial landscape, Landscape painting, Rural landscape |
| Art style: | Contemporary art |
