Yard Sale Photographs. Adam Bartos

Bologna: Damiani, 2009. English Text. Bologna, 2009; bound, pp. 134, ill., col. plates, cm 23,5x35. In the Yard Sale Photographs work, Bartos turns his lens to random arrangements of objects encountered by chance at tag sales, creating lush, "found" still lifes that resonate both formally and metaphorically. Taken at close range from an elevated vantage point, Bartos concentrates on fragments of the stuff relegated to boxes in our garages, revealing their hidden aesthetic potential. A pair of weathered skateboards silhouetted against black asphalt littered with grass clippings becomes a compressed formal abstract composition. Akin to early 20th century photographs that celebrated the industrial gleam of the Machine Age, Bartos' images give dignity to our 21st century castoffs. A close-up of the shimmering coral colored interior of a mid-century suitcase contrasted by a blue rhinestone and white linens within, is one of several photographs that invite the viewer to imagine a personal narrative. Presented in saturated pigment prints, the humble beauty of Bartos' chosen objects becomes monumental. The book is introduced with a story by Raymond Carver. After studying film at New York University, Bartos turned his attention to still photography. A six-month stay in the Ocean Park neighborhood of Los Angeles in the late 1970s provided the setting for his important early series of Southern California streetscapes and interiors, which were published in his 2006 book, Boulevard. His photographs are represented in numerous public collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the J. Paul Getty Museum, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston