Jose Dávila - Photographs New York Wednesday, April 6, 2022 | Phillips
  • "I’m fascinated by the effect the cut-outs create when viewed, as it compels you to imagine what was there. If you actually know the building, and to wonder about scale, dimensions, etc. – aspects that funnily enough, are often more present when the real building is not there anymore." —Jose Dávila

    Jose Dávila’s cut-outs ask the question – how well do we know icons of architecture?  The present lot showcases 50 well-known buildings, cut-out by hand, and eliminated from the frame.  The resulting white silhouette simplifies the lines of the building while simultaneously amplifying the masterful designs that are recognized globally.

     

     

    The present lot includes the following buildings, among many others:
    Empire State Building, New York, New York, USA, 1931
    Houses of Parliament, London, England, circa 1870
    Tower of Pisa, Pisa, Italy, 1372
    Taj Mahal, Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India, 1653
    Autun Cathedral, Autun, Burgundy, 1146
    Burj Al Arab, Dubai, United Aram Emirates, 1999

    • Provenance

      Acquired directly from the artist

    • Literature

      Dávila, There but Not, for various images

    • Artist Biography

      Jose Dávila

      Mexican • 1974

      Jose Dávila was born in Guadalajara, Mexico in 1974, where he still lives and works. Formally trained as an architect, Dávila creates assemblages, installations and photographic works that probe the transitory nature and spatial occupation of physical structures. He references artists and architects such as Donald Judd, Mathias Goeritz and Sol LeWitt in his works, reappropriating modernist architectural principles and addressing the failure of their utopian premise. His works, often constructed out of painted wood, found objects and plastics resembling quasi-functional structures, are at once critiques of and homages to twentieth-century avant-garde artists and architects. His style and vocabulary is born of a deep wealth of allusions and imagery, both artistic and architectural.

      View More Works

143

Buildings You Must See Before You Die

2008
Fifty pigment prints, each with a cut-out.
Each 10 x 7 1/2 in. (25.4 x 19.1 cm) or the reverse
Each signed, dated and annotated 'AP' on the frame backing. One from an edition of 4 plus artist's proofs.

Full Cataloguing

Estimate
$25,000 - 35,000 

Sold for $52,920

Contact Specialist

Sarah Krueger
Head of Department, Photographs
skrueger@phillips.com


Vanessa Hallett
Worldwide Head of Photographs and Chairwoman, Americas
vhallett@phillips.com

Photographs

New York Auction 6 April 2022