Joseph Wolek

November 1, 2001 - December 1, 2001

In his provocative series “Loose Wanderings in a Rigid Terrain” Wolek travels to the northern and western regions of China flanked by the Mongolian and Tibetan plateaus to create images that explore the relationships between nature, civilization, and the ideal in a new global market economy. His brilliant color photographs of interiors, show walls decorated with posters or murals depicting the idyllic version of natural beauty. These posters in many ways advertise what doesn’t exist, and the contradictions and contrasts surrounding our interpretation of contemporary landscape against and within human-made space are explored in Wolek’s images.