March Artist: James Spitznagel

Metromorphose: An Exhibition of Digital Fine Art Photography

March 5 to March 29, 2009

James Spitznagel’s futuristic digital images borrow scenes from everyday life and distort them to the point that they are no longer recognizable.

Once described by novelist J. Robert Lennon as “making the ordinary seem alien and alienation seem ordinary,” James Spitznagel’s futuristic digital images borrow scenes from everyday life and distort them to the point that they are no longer recognizable.  His photographic works are edited and modified through computer imaging techniques and employ a restricted palette, slick sense of geometry and pixilated rhythmic movement.  Although seemingly cool and removed, Spitznagel’s Zen-like works are rich in emotional and personal content.  Each photographic element, distorted in color and shape, originates as a found object, chosen by the artist for his particular reaction to it at a precise moment in time.  Through the screen of the computer, Spitznagel then engages in an ultra-modern form of Abstract Expressionism, using gradients, cropping tools and high resolutions to illustrate the emotions the Action Painters once illustrated through paint and canvas.

Artist and musician James Spitznagel was born in Pittsburgh, PA and has spent the past 15 years living and working in Ithaca, New York.

Website: www.levelgreen.com/art