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Phillip Buehler

American

The photographer Phillip Buehler has devoted his career to exploring obsolete sites, what he calls “modern ruins.” Captured in states of evocative decay, his subjects have included an abandoned psychiatric asylum, a Cold War missile silo and an offline power plant.

In late 2019, Buehler's body of work on view in the exhibition “Mallrat to Snapchat: The End of the Third Place” — at Front Room Gallery, in New York — may have elicited more nostalgia than the others. It was a look at New Jersey’s defunct Wayne Hills Mall and, by extension, at the dying culture of middle-class suburban shopping centers across the country.

"I started photographing abandoned places the same year the mall opened, 1973, when I was a senior in high school," Buehler told The Study. "At the time, New York was falling apart, with empty piers and abandoned or burned-out buildings everywhere. Back then, nobody was photographing them, so I had no art references — most were cinematic. Two films released in 1968 made a big impression on me: 2001: A Space Odyssey and Planet of the Apes."

Browse a collection of Phillip Buehler's photography on 1stDibs.

"Thunderbolt and Parachute Jump" a limited edition from Coney Island, 1997
By Phillip Buehler
Located in New York, NY
18"x24" limited edition historic photograph, edition 1/5. This photograph depicts a roller coaster that was built in 1925, abandoned in 1980, and demolished in 2000. Behind is the Pa...
Category

2010s Contemporary Phillip Buehler

Materials

Photographic Paper

Thunderbolt Sign, Coney Island
By Phillip Buehler
Located in New York, NY
edition of 5, signed on reverse. This photograph was taken in 2000 of the the Thunderbolt rollercoaster in Coney Island prior to its demolition. The Thunderbolt was a wooden roller...
Category

2010s Contemporary Phillip Buehler

Materials

Pigment

Hair Dryers
By Phillip Buehler
Located in New York, NY
24"x 30" photograph, edition of 5, signed on reverse This photograph was taken at Greystone Park Hospital, and shows an abandoned interior space with three beauty parlor style hair dryers...
Category

21st Century and Contemporary Contemporary Phillip Buehler

Materials

Archival Pigment

"Thunderbolt" a limited edition photograph from Coney Island, 1997
By Phillip Buehler
Located in New York, NY
18"x24" limited edition historic photograph, edition 1/5. This photograph depicts The Thunderbolt roller coaster, which was built in 1925, abandoned in 1982, and demolished 2000. It ...
Category

2010s Contemporary Phillip Buehler

Materials

Photographic Paper

"Church Steeple" conceptual color photograph, rural landscape, abstract wall
By Phillip Buehler
Located in New York, NY
This 18"x24", signed, editioned color photograph, contrasts an image of a rural town landscape painting, against the highly textured aqua, teal, turquoise blue painted wall, which reveals a cream white underpaint layer. Time and age have created an image of beautiful decay with the cracked and peeling paint, which creates an amazing visual backdrop to the painting. The pairing of the two in this photograph compliment each other on a sensory level and bring out thoughts of nostalgia and longing. Phillip Buehler is a New York based photographer who documents the deterioration and remnants of neglected architecture constructed in the recent past. He is arguably the first to coin the neologism “modern ruins”. His photographs published in “Woody Guthrie’s Wardy Forty,” have won numerous awards, documenting the singer/songwriter/activist’s life at Greystone Park Psychiatric. He received his BA at Rutgers University and his MFA in photography at School of Visual Arts. Phillip Buehler has been featured in Art in America, The New York Times, Art News, The Art Newspaper, Wall Street Journal, American Photo Magazine, The Huffington Post, Hyperallergic, Gothamist, Art F City, The Sun, ABC, CNN, and numerous other publications. Phillip Buehler Church Steeple...
Category

2010s Contemporary Phillip Buehler

Materials

Archival Pigment

"Atrium" large scale color photograph, Wayne Hills Mall (Modern Ruins) framed
By Phillip Buehler
Located in New York, NY
limited edition of 5, signed on reverse by the artist, Phillip Buehler. This photograph has a kaleidoscope feel in the geometric pattern of blue clouded sky tiles and salmon coral diamond paneling. It captures the view of the open panel ceiling of the atrium in the abandoned Wayne Hills Mall...
Category

2010s Contemporary Phillip Buehler

Materials

Archival Pigment

"Farm Colony Greenhouse" a limited edition photograph from Staten Island, 2023
By Phillip Buehler
Located in New York, NY
18"x24" limited edition historic photograph, edition 1/5. This photograph depicts a poorhouse where residents had to work, mostly by farming, to feed the colony’s residents as well a...
Category

2010s Contemporary Phillip Buehler

Materials

Photographic Paper

"Water Well" color photograph, autumn farm landscape painting on abstract wall
By Phillip Buehler
Located in New York, NY
18"x24", signed, editioned color photograph. A lush Fall farm landscape with greens fields, orange trees and red barn painting is contrasted by the placement on a highly distressed wall. Multiple layers of paint in various colors from teal blue, pink, beige, and orange are peeled and cracked creating an abstract pattern of color behind the landscape painting in this photograph. Time and age have created an image of beautiful decay with the cracked and peeling paint, which creates an amazing visual backdrop to the painting. The pairing of the two in this photograph compliment each other on a sensory level and bring out thoughts of nostalgia and longing. Phillip Buehler is a New York based photographer who documents the deterioration and remnants of neglected architecture constructed in the recent past. He is arguably the first to coin the neologism “modern ruins”. His photographs published in “Woody Guthrie’s Wardy Forty,” have won numerous awards, documenting the singer/songwriter/activist’s life at Greystone Park Psychiatric. He received his BA at Rutgers University and his MFA in photography at School of Visual Arts. Phillip Buehler has been featured in Art in America, The New York Times, Art News, The Art...
Category

2010s Contemporary Phillip Buehler

Materials

Archival Pigment

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Phillip Buehler art for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Phillip Buehler art available for sale on 1stDibs. If you’re browsing the collection of art to introduce a pop of color in a neutral corner of your living room or bedroom, you can find work that includes elements of blue, purple and other colors. You can also browse by medium to find art by Phillip Buehler in pigment print, archival pigment print, paper and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 21st century and contemporary and is mostly associated with the contemporary style. Not every interior allows for large Phillip Buehler art, so small editions measuring 14 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Bill Armstrong, Luke Smalley, and Cheryl Medow. Phillip Buehler art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $800 and tops out at $6,500, while the average work can sell for $1,700.

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