Arthur Tress Contemporary Art
American, b. 1940
Born in Brooklyn, New York, on November 24, 1940, Arthur Tress began his first camera work as a teenager in the surreal neighborhood of Coney Island where he spent hours exploring the decaying amusement parks. Later, during five years of world travel, mostly in Asia and Africa, he developed an interest in ethnographical photography that eventually led him to his first professional assignment as a U.S. government photographer recording the endangered folk cultures of Appalachia.
Seeing the destructive results of corporate resource extraction, Tress began to use his camera to raise environmental awareness about the economic and human costs of pollution. Focusing on New York City, he began to photograph the neglected fringes of the urban waterfront with a straight documentary approach. This gradually evolved into a more personal mode of “magic realism” combining improvised elements of actual life with stage fantasy that became his hallmark style of directorial fabrication. In the late 1960s Tress was inspired to do a series based upon children’s dreams that combined his interests in ritual ceremony, Jungian archetypes, and social allegory. Later bodies of work dealing with the hidden dramas of adult relationships and the reenactments of male homosexual desire evolved from this primarily theatrical approach.
Beginning in the early 1980s, Tress began shooting in color, creating room-sized painted sculptural installations out of found medical equipment in an abandoned hospital on New York’s Welfare Island. This led to a smaller scale exploration of narrative still life within a children’s toy theater and a portable nineteenth-century aquarium.
Around 2002, Tress returned to gelatin silver, exploring more formalist themes in the style of mid- century modernism, often combining a spontaneous shooting style with a constructivist’s sense of architectural composition and abstract shape. In addition to images of California skateboard parks, his recent work includes the round images of the series Planets and the diamond-shaped images of Pointers. Selected Arthur Tress Books and Publications
Open Space in the Inner City: Ecology and the Urban Environment. New York: New York State Council on the Arts, 1971. Arthur Tress: The Dream Collector. Text by John Minahan. Richmond: Westover, 1972, New York: Avon, 1974. Shadow. A Novel in Photographs. New York: Avon, 1975 Theater of the Mind. Text by Duane Michaels, Michel Tournier and A.D. Coleman. Dobbs Ferry: Morgan and Morgan, 1976. Reves. Text by Michel Tournier. Brussels: Complexe, 1979. Talisman. Edited by Marco Livingstone. Oxford: Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, 1986. The Teapot Opera. Photographs and text by Arthur Tress. Goro International, 1986, Abbeville, 1988. Male of the Species: Four Decades of Photography by Arthur Tress. Text by Michale Tournier. Fotofactory, 1999. Fish Tank Sonata. Bulfinch, 2000. Arthur Tress: Fantastic Voyage: Photographs 1956-2000. Bulfinch, 2001. Memories. Photographs by Arthur Tress, Poems by Guillaume Apollinaire. 21st,to
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Creator: Arthur Tress
Framed Black and White Photograph by Arthur Tress
By Arthur Tress
Located in Atlanta, GA
A framed vintage gelatin silver photograph print by American surrealist photographer Arthur Tress (1940-). The work belongs to the artist's "Dream Collector" series. Entitled "Girl i...
Category
1970s American Modern Vintage Arthur Tress Contemporary Art
Materials
Paper
Framed Editioned Vintage Photograph Adam in Central Park New York Arthur Tress
By Arthur Tress
Located in Atlanta, GA
A framed black and white gelatin silver photograph by American surrealist photographer Arthur Tress (1940-). Entitled "Adam in Central Park, New York". the gelatin silver print was m...
Category
Late 20th Century American Modern Arthur Tress Contemporary Art
Materials
Wood, Paper
Framed Editioned Photograph Raking Leaves Arthur Tress
By Arthur Tress
Located in Atlanta, GA
A framed black and white gelatin silver photograph by American surrealist photographer Arthur Tress (1940-). Entitled "Making Leaves", the work was created in 1978. The two intertwin...
Category
Late 20th Century American Modern Arthur Tress Contemporary Art
Materials
Wood, Paper
Framed Black and White Photograph Arthur Tress
By Arthur Tress
Located in Atlanta, GA
A framed vintage gelatin silver photograph print by American surrealist photographer Arthur Tress (1940-). Entitled "Making Leaves, Cold Spring, New York", the work was created in 19...
Category
Late 20th Century American Modern Arthur Tress Contemporary Art
Materials
Wood, Paper
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Arthur Tress contemporary art are available for sale on 1stDibs. These distinctive items are frequently made of paper and are designed with extraordinary care. There are many options to choose from in our collection of Arthur Tress contemporary art, although gray editions of this piece are particularly popular. Many of the original contemporary art by Arthur Tress were created in the modern style in united states during the late 20th century. If you’re looking for additional options, many customers also consider contemporary art by John Dugdale, Don Hong Oai, and Keith Haring. Prices for Arthur Tress contemporary art can differ depending upon size, time period and other attributes — on 1stDibs, these items begin at $2,500 and can go as high as $3,600, while a piece like these, on average, fetch $3,200.