James Casebere

Born in 1953 in East Lansing, Michigan
Lives and Works in Brooklyn, New York

Since the 1980s, James Casebere’s photographs have transported viewers into ambiguous, evocative, and surreal environments. Casebere’s process involves constructing tabletop models out of modest materi¬als, such as Styrofoam, plaster, and cardboard. He then dramatically lights these constructions and care¬fully positions his camera to manipulate the com¬position and the mood of the resulting photograph. Devoid of human figures, the constructions invite viewers to project into and inhabit the space.

For Landscape with Houses (Dutchess County, NY) #1 and Landscape with Houses (Dutchess County, NY) #2, Casebere constructed his grandest, most detailed model to date—an American subdivision based on one in Dutchess County, New York. The fabricated community is a hybrid development of the sort hit hard by the foreclosure epidemic of the past few years.


Read About the Artist 

Artist's website

"Art in Review"
The New York Times (June 2007)

"Portfolio: James Casebere"
Artforum (March 2002)

"An Artist's Novel Take on History: He Lets the Walls Talk"
The New York Times (May 2001)

"James Casebere"
Bomb (Fall 2001)

"Review: James Casebere at Lisson Gallery"
Frieze (May 2000)

Artworks in a studio.
Artworks in a studio.

James Casebere, Studio View, New York, 2009. Courtesy the artist and Sean Kelly Gallery, New York. Photo Credit: Chris Rodriguez