Items Similar to Mesa, Arizona, December, 1980 #5
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 5
Steve FitchMesa, Arizona, December, 1980 #5 1980
1980
About the Item
In American Motel Signs Steve Fitch crisscrossed the United States documenting the colorful dynamic, advertisements inviting weary traveler to park their car and pack it in for the night. Tinged with nostalgia, these delightfully garish motel signs lovingly recall a mid 20th Century road culture speaking to a sense of independence and freedom central to the contemporary American identity. A trained anthropologist, Fitch’s approach to American Motel Signs is almost scientific. Images of a single subject are crafted with and observational distance and a democratic square frame inviting viewers to compare regional differences in detail, design, and landscape under the umbrella of a single society seemingly focused on fun, travel, and leisure. For Fitch much of his photographic work was inspired by childhood family road trips from Northern California to South Dakota and continues to focus on what the artist has termed the ‘vernacular of the journey.’
- Creator:Steve Fitch (1949, American)
- Creation Year:1980
- Dimensions:Height: 12 in (30.48 cm)Width: 12 in (30.48 cm)
- More Editions & Sizes:15 x 15Price: $650
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Framing:Framing Options Available
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:Sante Fe, NM
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU13428058742
Steve Fitch
After graduating from the University of California at Berkeley in 1971 with a bachelor's degree in anthropology, and while teaching photography at the ASUC Studio on the Berkeley campus, I began work on a project photographing the vernacular roadside of the American highway. I received two National Endowments for the Arts Fellowships to aid in the completion of this project, one in 1973 and the second in 1975. Eventually, the photographs were published in the monograph, Diesels and Dinosaurs, in 1976. After receiving a master's degree in fine arts from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque in 1978 I accepted a teaching position at the University of Colorado in Boulder. In 1981, as a member of the "Marks and Measures" project, I began photographing prehistoric Native American pictographs and petroglyph sites in the American West. This project was partly funded by the last National Endowment for the Arts Survey Grant awarded in 1981. My work on the project, along with that of the other four project members, was published in a monograph, Marks in Place: Contemporary Responses to Rock Art, by the University of New Mexico Press in 1988. I received several purchase awards in various exhibitions for photographs made during this period. Partly as a result of the work I did for Diesels and Dinosaurs, I became interested in the artistic possibilities of neon and learned to fabricate my own neon pieces in 1981. I have made a number of neon installations over the past thirty years, several of which are permanently located in outdoor locations in New Mexico. In 1990, after teaching at Princeton University for four years in the Visual Arts Program, I returned to New Mexico and began photographing the ongoing abandonment of the high Great Plains receiving the Eliot Porter Fellowship from the New Mexico Council for Photography in 1999 to aid in the completion of this project. In 2003 a book of these photographs entitled Gone: Photographs of Abandonment on the High Plains was published by the University of New Mexico Press and a traveling exhibition of the photographs was organized by the University of New Mexico Art Museum. The entire exhibition of forty photographs was purchased by the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C. Since 1990 I have taught photography at the College of Santa Fe. Today, my wife and I live off the grid in a passive solar adobe house we constructed ourselves over six summers, beginning in 1984, on rural land in Santa Fe County, New Mexico. We use photovoltaic panels to meet all of our electricity needs and collect water in an extensive rainwater gathering system. Recently, I finished a project photographing in the Llano Estacado region of western Texas and eastern New Mexico. My work on the project, as well as that of five other photographers, was partly funded by a grant from the Southwest Collection at Texas Tech University and will be published in an upcoming monograph by Texas Tech University Press.
About the Seller
5.0
Vetted Seller
These experienced sellers undergo a comprehensive evaluation by our team of in-house experts.
Established in 1993
1stDibs seller since 2015
213 sales on 1stDibs
Typical response time: 9 hours
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Sante Fe, NM
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 14 days of delivery.
More From This SellerView All
- Eastern Screech Owl #1, St. Louis, MOBy Brad WilsonLocated in Sante Fe, NMFrom Brad Wilson's Affinity Series Affinity by Brad Wilson is a series of exquisitely detailed close-up color portraits of captive birds, reptiles, and mammals in a studio environme...Category
2010s Contemporary Color Photography
MaterialsArchival Pigment
- Big Orange Sun, August 15, 2015By Alan FriedmanLocated in Sante Fe, NMMy photographs comprise a solar diary, portraits of a moment in the life of our local star.Category
2010s Contemporary Color Photography
MaterialsArchival Pigment
- Stage Stills (2)By Jo WhaleyLocated in Sante Fe, NMStage Stills “With the portfolio of images entitled Stage Stills, I have returned to my roots as a scenic artist, but from a different perspective. Upon seeing the backstage of the...Category
2010s Contemporary Color Photography
MaterialsArchival Pigment
- Planet Glenfiddich 125, limited edition color photograph, signed and numberedBy Ernie ButtonLocated in Sante Fe, NMPlanet Glenfiddich 125, limited edition color photograph, signed and numbered. Whisky is a time-honored drink, finely crafted and enjoyed for centuries. I feel fortunate that I found the Vanishing Spirits phenomenon. I am a fan of observing my world and the things that are happening around me; noticing the smaller details that may be ignored or overlooked. The idea for this project occurred while putting a used Scotch glass into the dishwasher. I noted a film on the bottom of a glass and when I inspected closer, I noted these fine, lacy lines filling the bottom. What I found through some experimentation is that these patterns and images that are seen can be created with the small amount of Single-Malt Scotch whisky left in a glass after most of it has been consumed. The alcohol dries and leaves the sediment in various patterns. It’s a little like snowflakes in that every time the Scotch dries, the glass yields slightly different patterns and results. Some of the images reference the celestial as if the image was taken of space; something that the Hubble telescope...Category
2010s Contemporary Color Photography
MaterialsArchival Pigment
- Planet Signet 181, limited edition color photograph, signed and numberedBy Ernie ButtonLocated in Sante Fe, NMPlanet Signet 181, limited edition color photograph, signed and numbered Whisky is a time-honored drink, finely crafted and enjoyed for centuries. I feel fortunate that I found the ...Category
2010s Contemporary Color Photography
MaterialsArchival Pigment
- Planet Clynelish 33, limited edition color photograph, signed and numberedBy Ernie ButtonLocated in Sante Fe, NMPlanet Clynelish 33, limited edition color photograph, signed and numbered. Whisky is a time-honored drink, finely crafted and enjoyed for centuries. I feel fortunate that I found the Vanishing Spirits phenomenon. I am a fan of observing my world and the things that are happening around me; noticing the smaller details that may be ignored or overlooked. The idea for this project occurred while putting a used Scotch glass...Category
2010s Contemporary Color Photography
MaterialsArchival Pigment
You May Also Like
- 'Spring couplet' Large Scale Photograph Cherry blossom Sakura flowers white pinkBy Sophia MilliganLocated in Penzance, GB'Spring Couplet' ('Mono No Aware' Series) 40 x 60" edition Limited edition archival photograph, hand signed and numbered. Unframed _________________ The dance of the cherry blossoms ...Category
2010s Contemporary Color Photography
MaterialsArchival Ink, Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, Digital, Giclée, Archi...
- 'Sunday's Tulips (II)' Large Scale Photo bold flower pastel red orange whiteBy Sophia MilliganLocated in Penzance, GB'Sunday's Tulips (II)' 40 x 60" edition Limited edition archival photograph, hand signed and numbered. Unframed _________________ Gauzy afternoon light, the tulips are stretching sof...Category
2010s Contemporary Color Photography
MaterialsArchival Ink, Archival Paper, Giclée, Archival Pigment
- 'Sunday's Tulips (III)' Large Scale Photo bold flower pastel red orange whiteBy Sophia MilliganLocated in Penzance, GB'Sunday's Tulips (III)' 40 x 60" edition Limited edition archival photograph, hand signed and numbered. Unframed _________________ Gauzy afternoon light, the tulips are stretching so...Category
2010s Contemporary Color Photography
MaterialsArchival Ink, Archival Paper, Giclée, Archival Pigment
- CrownBy Vee SpeersLocated in VALLAURIS, FRTranscendence reflects on our relationship with the planet, and explores the concept of surpassing the limitations and distractions of our material existence to reach unlimited possi...Category
2010s Contemporary Color Photography
MaterialsArchival Pigment
- ThistleBy Vee SpeersLocated in VALLAURIS, FRTranscendence reflects on our relationship with the planet, and explores the concept of surpassing the limitations and distractions of our material existence to reach unlimited possi...Category
2010s Contemporary Color Photography
MaterialsArchival Pigment
- GlobeBy Vee SpeersLocated in VALLAURIS, FRTranscendence reflects on our relationship with the planet, and explores the concept of surpassing the limitations and distractions of our material existence to reach unlimited possi...Category
2010s Contemporary Color Photography
MaterialsArchival Pigment