Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 4

Sean Hemmerle
OCGC, Division 1, Western Elevation

About the Item

In this photograph, Sean Hemmerle captures images of an imperiled Brutalist masterwork, The Orange County Government Center in Goshen, NY. Hemmerle and designer William Watson collaborated to produce an archive of photographs and research about Paul Rudolph's extraordinary Government Center. . The Orange County Government Center has been the focus of an ongoing public debate concerning the viability and relevance of Brutalist architecture. Built in 1967, the Center opened in 1971, at a time of civic optimism, but the building was quickly beset by recessions, political reversals, and negligent maintenance, leaving it damaged and unpopular. Forty years later, local politicians, who considered the complex an economic and visual burden, forced the building’s evacuation and continue to lobby for its full or partial demolition. The Orange County Government Center is an important example of Paul Rudolph’s sculptural, multi-leveled Brutalist designs, which play with concepts of volume, texture and light; this building is considered one of his finest remaining structures. This series of photographs by Sean Hemmerle embraces the often illusive, experiential quality of the architectural components that make up this unique design. Sean Hemmerle’s photographs depict the the Government Center’s cavernous spaces, its volumes capped with more than eighty individual rooves. Hemmerle’s rigid and direct photographs reveal the underlying harmony of Rudolph's genius. Within Hemmerle’s photographs the viewer can slip inside the Government Center, illuminated indirectly from periscopic openings and uniquely fitted windows. One can palpably sense Rudolph’s brilliance expressed in the silent concrete chambers accented in hues of aubergine and ochre. Sometimes I think we build too many goldfish bowls and not enough caves.–Paul Rudolph. Sean Hemmerle is a New York based photographer whose work ranges from war zones to contemporary architecture. His conflict images span a tumultuous decade, from the World Trade Center to Kabul, Baghdad, Gaza, Juárez, and Beirut. Closer to home, Hemmerle has created iconic photographs that reflect the pathos and poetry of the American Rust Belt, including work from Detroit, Pittsburgh, Toledo, Gary, and Albany. Hemmerle has exhibited nationally and internationally; his work can be found in public and private collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, the International Center for Photography, The Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, and the Margulies Warehouse. His work was recently acquired by the Open Society Foundations for their permanent collection. Hemmerle’s images have been featured in numerous publications, including The New York Times Magazine, Time, Newsweek, Harper’s, Columbia Journalism Review, Le Monde 2, Die Zeit, The Sunday Telegraph, and Daylight Magazine.
  • Creator:
    Sean Hemmerle (1966, American)
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 35 in (88.9 cm)Width: 42 in (106.68 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
  • Gallery Location:
    New York, NY
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU692263262

More From This Seller

View All
6000 Ton Lift
By Stephen Mallon
Located in New York, NY
30'X45" photograph, edition of 5, unframed This photograph is from Stephen Mallon's series: "Prelude" - an examination of the “Prelude F.L.N.G.,”* the “largest offshore floating f...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Landscape Photography

Materials

C Print, Photographic Paper

The Reefing of the USS Radford
By Stephen Mallon
Located in New York, NY
C Print Photograph 30"x45", edition of 5 available unframed please inquire about additional print sizes This photograph is from Stephen Mallon's series: "The Reefing of...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Landscape Photography

Materials

C Print

Wing
By Stephen Mallon
Located in New York, NY
"Wing" 30"x45" photograph - edition 4/5 (unframed) please inquire about additional editions and availability This iconic photograph is from the artist's series: "Brace For Impact: ...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Landscape Photography

Materials

C Print

She's Looking at You
By Stephen Mallon
Located in New York, NY
40"x60" C Print 2/5 from the series: "Brace For Impact, The Aftermath of Flight 1549" available unframed please inquire about additional editions and availability Stephen Mal...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Color Photography

Materials

C Print

"Weeks 297" Sea Train, Subway Reef Photograph by Stephen Mallon 40"x60" unframed
By Stephen Mallon
Located in New York, NY
C-Print Photograph, edition 3 of 5 - 40"x60" signed and editioned on reverse by the artist. Presented unframed. This photograph documents the creation of artificial reefs along the Atlantic Coast. Stacks of New York City subway cars sit atop a barge at sea. The blue-grey water, shows a white wave cresting in foreground with the lines of subway train cars stacked on top of each other center of the composition. This unusual recycling program created artificial reefs along United States East Coast utilizing the decommissioned NYC subway cars. From 2001 to 2010, the MTA, which runs the city’s subways, re-purposed thousands of decommissioned subway cars by submerging them into the ocean off eastern seaboard states such as New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and South Carolina. There, the urban relics become artificial reefs, providing safe habitats for marine life. Photographer Stephen Mallon spent two years documenting the project, and his images are now on view at the New York Transit Museum‘s Grand Central Terminal Annex in a new exhibition. In a bold move, the NYC Transit...
Category

2010s Contemporary Landscape Photography

Materials

C Print, Photographic Paper

Shallow
By Stephen Mallon
Located in New York, NY
"Shallow" 40"x45" photograph edition of 5 please inquire about additional editions and availability This photograph is from Stephen Mallon's series entitled: "Next Stop Atlan...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Color Photography

Materials

C Print

You May Also Like

Empire of dreams, 21st Century, Contemporary, Cityscapes
By David Drebin
Located in München, BY
Edition 10 A beautiful female model in front of the Empire State Building in New York is mirroring herself in the window. Internationally-renowned and New York City-based photograp...
Category

2010s Contemporary Color Photography

Materials

C Print

Field in Rain, Whitman County
By Christopher Harris
Located in New York, NY
C-print Signed, titled, dated, and numbered, verso (Edition of 10) This photograph is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City. About the artist: Christopher Harris’s devastati...
Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Color Photography

Materials

C Print

Autumn Grass, Camp Road, Whitman County
By Christopher Harris
Located in New York, NY
C-print Signed, titled, dated, and numbered, verso (Edition of 10) This photograph is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City. About the artist: Christopher Harris’s devastati...
Category

Early 2000s Contemporary Color Photography

Materials

C Print

Wave (Nocturne)
By Aziz + Cucher
Located in New York, NY
C-print on Endura metallic paper (Edition of 5) Signed and numbered, verso This artwork is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City. Begun in 2003, the series of works collect...
Category

2010s Contemporary Landscape Photography

Materials

C Print

Wave (Copper)
By Aziz + Cucher
Located in New York, NY
C-print on Endura metallic paper (Edition of 5) Signed and numbered, verso This artwork is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City. Begun in 2003, the series of works collect...
Category

2010s Contemporary Landscape Photography

Materials

C Print

Wave (White)
By Aziz + Cucher
Located in New York, NY
C-print on Endura metallic paper (Edition of 5) Signed and numbered, verso This artwork is offered by ClampArt, located in New York City. Begun in 2003, the series of works collect...
Category

2010s Contemporary Landscape Photography

Materials

C Print

Recently Viewed

View All