Abelardo Morell: Reclaiming the Familiar

The Universe Next Door is a fitting description for the work of Abelardo Morell, whose photographs are now on view at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. Morell reveals a world not traditionally captured in photographs, one that exists beyond the scope of the lens. One can dream up such landscapes but rarely do we get to see them within the formal confines of art.

The Cuban-born American photographer employs the age-old technique of camera obscura, whereby outside images are projected onto interior surfaces, to achieve his signature style. Morell’s approach results in a convergence of public and private, of reality and surreality; he gives us unique and sometimes ghostly perspectives, like the silhouette of an upside-down Chrysler building traversing the wall of a hotel room, its spire extending across the length of a rug. Such images remind us that the elements of our familiar universe can be made unexpectedly, powerfully new.

Abelardo Morell, Abelardo Morell: The Universe Next Door, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, through January 5, 2014.