Theo Anderson's dense, 16-month journey photographing the construction of Allentown's PPL Center Arena is being celebrated in an important show at the Allentown Art Museum running October 12, 2014, through January 4, 2015. This fascinating project is also rigorously explored in eight handmade, limited edition books entitled CONCRETE, also on display at the show.
At times, Anderson's work is painterly, evoking the gritty complexity of Anselm Keifer in one photograph and a deconstructed Modrian in another. Some pieces manage to bring a lyrical quality to the evolving building site. Conversely, other shots glory in their stark minimalism, articulating a monumental, irresistible angularity.
The dissimilarity among the photographs testifies to Anderson's probing eye and his discerning sensibility as a photographer.
Deftly articulating the pictorial potential of a burgeoning building is a daunting task for the most accomplished photographer. The books and show cast considerable light on Anderson as a disciplined and skillful artist capable of transforming utilitarian aggregates into compelling images that challenge and engage the viewer.
Diane P. Fischer, Ph.D., and Chief Curator of the Allentown Art Museum, insightfully stated, “Anderson was a pioneer of sorts, exploring the building site as the construction workers transformed it from rubble into a finished building. Although these abstracted images are more about transformation than the place itself, they document what the artist witnessed, finding beauty in an industrial site and giving it an implied human presence. When Theo told me what he was photographing, I knew that an exhibition would be an excellent way for the Museum to participate in the revival of our downtown this fall.”
Rhythms of progress frozen in time; photographs quickened by the painterly potential of a construction site; congealed into an exquisite immobility that now revels in its perpetual visibility. Anderson's art creates an unusual visual journey that would have otherwise been hidden from our sight forever, never seeding our imaginations.
