Dia Beacon Review

The artists I really found interesting at Dia: Beacon were the German artists Bernd and Hilla Becher. All of Bernd and Hilla’s work that was exhibited was black and white digital photographs. The large series of photographs all had the same subject of industrial structures. All of the photographs seemed to almost have a symmetrical composition. The contrast of the black and white also seems to emphasize the shapes formed from the structure and the negative space.

Plant for Styrofoam Production, Wesseling near Cologne, Germany, 1997

Since all of their images show the details and textures of the materials the Bechers’ work stems from modernists Eugène Atget and August Sander. I think all of their photographs were simple, yet were still very appealing. I think the visual impact of all the photographs is very strong. The composition and cropping of the structures make the focus very clear and emphasizes the shapes formed by the parts of the structure. I personally think these photographs are a commentary on the growing industries that were taking place in the late 80s and the 90s. I think these images could easily be passed by in the museum, but if you take the time to look at them you get to see an unexpected elegance within the image.