Frank Breuer: Photographs

Work from each of the five series produced by photographer Frank Breuer (German, born 1963) is included in this display of color prints, some on view in the United States for the first time. Breuer's work relates to commerce, the sprawling global economy, and the anonymous and transitory elements within it. His printing technique reduces the scale of his subjects to intimate proportions, while his careful composition and subtle use of color reveal disarming beauty in the most generic and overlooked of subjects.

This Cologne-based photographer studied under Bernd and Hilla Becher in the mid-1990s, and his work is informed by their rigorously formal technique and interest in industrial typologies. Yet, Breuer has developed his own approach both in his use of color and in his particular choice of subject matter, which includes logos on roadside signage and facades of generic warehouses. For Untitled, 2004 (1278 Antwerpen), Breuer renders stacked shipping containers as sculptural assemblages that are monumental yet unintentional and fleeting. Their crude physicality is tempered by the delicate planes of color that are arranged against a milky white sky.

Breuer began his career working in northern Europe and—through invitations to teach at Harvard University and to exhibit at the Faulconer Gallery at Grinnell College—has recently shifted his attention to aspects of the American landscape. He focuses on the ubiquitous utility poles that link the country together and bear witness to the ever-increasing demands for energy and data. In addition, Breuer photographs bricked-over storefronts in the Midwest, illuminating these relics of a shifting economy.

Frank Breuer: Photographs is curated by Eric Lutz, assistant curator of prints, drawings, and photographs, and is on view December 14, 2007, through March 16, 2008, in Gallery 321. Four of the works featured were acquired through donations from the Honorable and Mrs. Thomas F. Eagleton. This exhibition is a tribute to the ongoing commitment to German photography that they helped foster at the Saint Louis Art Museum.

Frank Breuer: Photographs