For over three decades, James Casebere has meticulously built tabletop models of increasing complexity to photograph in his studio. Based on the artist’s impression of an area of Dutchess County, the model used in Landscape with Houses (Dutchess County, NY) #8 took two years to build and ultimately took over Casebere’s entire studio. A master of mood and emotional resonance, Casebere’s photographs are always devoid of humans and often convey emotional distance and isolation. Here, above-ground pools, a satellite dish, and empty lots offer a quiet portrait of a fictitious housing development where residents are staking out their dreams for a better life. Casebere is represented in public and private collections worldwide including MoMA, New York; the Guggenheim Museum, New York; the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; and the Whitney Museum, New York, among many others. In addition to his participation in the 2010 Whitney Biennial, Casebere was included in the Pictures Generation exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2009 and Haunted: Contemporary Photography/Video Performance, at the Guggenheim Museum in 2010.
