Oliver Wasow

Photography’s fluid negotiation of fact and fiction is a central concern to the work of Oliver Wasow. Whether images of mysterious illuminated disks floating in the sky or fantastical landscapes–created by rephotographing, photocopying, and otherwise altering bits of found imagery–Wasow plays with the human propensity to invest form with meaning, offering just enough detail to spur the imagination. At the heart of his work is an understanding of the collusion between photographers who manipulate their images–whether those images appear on the pages of tabloids or on the walls of art museums–and viewers who accept their veracity, if only for a moment.

He has had solo exhibitions at White Columns in New York, Tom Solomon Gallery in Los Angeles, The South Eastern Center for Contemporary Art in North Carolina, and Galerie De Poche in Paris, France. His work has been included in group exhibitions at institutions such as The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., New Museum in New York, Museum of Moderner Kunst in Vienna, Center for Photography in Rotterdam, The Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, and Documenta 8 in Kassel.

Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art