ABritishphotographer’svisualmythologyofLosAngeles’pastsandfuturesForBritishphotographerNickMeek,growingupintheNorthofEnglandandraisedonHollywoodmoviesandTVshows,theAmericanWestalwaysseemedaterrainfullofgoldenprospectandpossibility.Inthislusciousphotographicportrait,thecountry’shighways,motels,nationalparks,movietheaters,roadsigns,airports,waterfallsandbeachesappearatonceromanticandeerie,optimisticandironic,hazyandhyperreal,soakedinemotionandovertlyartificial.Here,inwashed-out,almostpainterlyKodachromeoranges,yellowsandpaleblues,MeekconstructsaHollywood-stylenostalgia,subtlyexaggeratingthephotographicstyleandiconographythattypicallyaccompanysuchportrayalsoftheWest,whilenonethelessingeniouslyaccessingtheiremotionalpull.Theprocessofrememberingentailsacertainamountofforgetting.Inthesephotos,Meekminesthisgap,creatingspaceforscenesandmeaningsthatmightneverhavereallybeenthere.ThisisMeek’sdebutmonograph,compilingaselectionfromhisacclaimedseries,createdbetween2002and2017.NickMeek(born1969)hasworkedfortheNewYorkTimes,theNewYorker,GQ,Esquireandothers.HisphotographswererecentlyonviewatMomentumFineArtinMiamiandtheDeSotoGalleryinLosAngeles.MeekwasborninEnglandanddivideshistimebetweenLondonandChamonix,France.
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