The exterior of a building is arguably its most important part. It’s the one thing people notice the most, the one thing that could make them decide whether or not to enter. This is not lost on artist Markus Brunetti, whose new exhibition FACADES is at the Yossi Milo Gallery.
Brunetti is presenting photographs of the exteriors of churches, cathedrals and cloisters. But don’t expect your run of the mill tourist shot here. Looking at Brunetti’s work is like abandoning your own eyes and looking through the eyes of Superman, or a being of artificial intelligence. Each of his subjects has been captured in exquisite detail, with nearly every crack, color and minute detail visible. Further, they have been photographed over a period of time that can range from as little as a few days to as long as a few years. A frame-by-frame effort, they are then carefully compiled into one image, resulting in an unbelievably sharp final result. They look almost unreal, superbly outshining their drab surroundings, which didn’t receive the same treatment. Details that would otherwise be lost are brought to the forefront, and those that were already visible are heightened.
The subjects themselves are all European, discovered by the artist during a 10-year voyage. They range in style, from classic Gothic to the lavish Baroque to the timeless Renaissance. FACADES breathes life back into these ancient and revered structures, which include the Ulm Minster in Germany, the Paróquia de Santa Marinha in Portugal and the Notre Dame Cathedral in Reims. Brunetti’s painstaking photography and immaculate construction only highlights their lost or unappreciated beauty, once again making them the structures they were intended to be.
In order to keep the detail, five of the prints are displayed in gigantic 10 feet tall iterations, while ten more are in respectable 70” x 60” versions. Get lost in Brunetti’s hyper-real world yourself by visiting the Yossi Milo Gallery in New York to view FACADES. The exhibition will run until October 17, 2015.
