Aziz + Cucher

Aziz + Cucher is an American visual art duo, consisting of Anthony Aziz (born 1961) and Samuel Cucher (born 1958).[1] They are visual artists working together as a collaborative team since meeting in graduate school in 1991 at the San Francisco Art Institute.[2] They are pioneers in the field of digital imaging and post-photography, with projects exhibited at numerous venues including the 46th Venice Biennale in 1995 where they represented Venezuela,[3] the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

Anthony Aziz

Anthony Aziz was born in 1961 in Lunenburg, Massachusetts;[4] he is third generation Lebanese American.[5] Aziz received his BA degree from Boston College in 1983 and then went on to earn his MFA degree from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1990.

Sammy Cucher

Sammy Cucher was born in 1958 in Lima, Peru, and he grew up in Caracas, Venezuela. Cucher was raised in a Zionist, Jewish family, which emigrated to Israel.[5][6] He received his BFA degree from Tisch School of the Arts at New York University in 1983 and then earned his MFA degree from San Francisco Art Institute in 1992.

Career

Aziz + Cucher have worked in many media including digital photography, video installation, sculpture, and textiles. Early work in the 1990s by Aziz + Cucher protested the AIDS crisis, and later work addressed the Israel-Palestinian conflict (specifically the 2012 film, By Aporia, Pure and Simple).[7][8][9]

They were among the first to use Adobe Photoshop in the context of fine art photography. The resulting series of images (1992 to 2002) can be seen as a commentary and reflection on the relationship between the human body and the technological forces that shape our society.[10][11][12] In later projects (2003 to 2006), which grew to include video installation, their concerns shifted towards the way that our perception of nature and the landscape had been augmented and modified by technological mediation.[2]

They are gay and live together as "life partners" in Brooklyn, New York;[5][13] and are both members of the faculty at Parsons The New School for Design.[5]

Work

The Dystopia series (1994–1995)

Consists of large digitally manipulated portraits in which the orifices—eyes, mouth and nostrils—have been covered by a layer of skin.[2] The intention was to suggest an evolutionary change signifying the loss of individuality in the face of advancing technology and the progressive disappearance of face-to-face, direct interaction.[2]

Interior series (1999–2002)

These are monumental images of architectural spaces seemingly constructed out of human skin.[2] Created originally to metaphorically reflect the rapid proliferation of technological communications, these images have a haunting, lyrical quality which embodies the dichotomy between interior and exterior that will come to characterize their work subsequently.

Synaptic Bliss series (2003–2007)

The central piece in this series is a 4-channel video installation commissioned by the Festival Villette Numerique in Paris in 2004. The series is characterized by a shift in visual language from the human body to representing a landscape in which diverse forms are superimposed, becoming intertwined, and slowly emerging from an intensive colored flurry. Each individual shape seems in constant flux, becoming distinguished by a shift in tone, orientation, or size of its colored texture. The work in this series explores ideas of a digital consciousness that allows for the simultaneous perception of multiple perspectives and scales, as well as for the blurring of the distinctions between the body and its environment.

Exhibitions

References
  1. Photography, International Center of (December 2003). Fusco, Coco; Wallis, Brian (eds.). Only Skin Deep: Changing Visions of the American Self. Harry N. Abrams. p. 394. ISBN 978-0-8109-4635-4.
  2. West, Ruth (1998). "Aziz + Cucher: Genetics and Culture". viewingspace.com. Genetics and Culture: From Molecular Music to Transgenic Art, UCLA Design and Media Arts, University of California, Los Angeles. Archived from the original on 2012-03-05. Retrieved 2021-11-03.
  3. "Come as You Are, Aziz + Cucher, Shahzia Sikander, Lora Urbanelli, Marina Zurkow". The New York Public Library (NYPL). April 29, 2015. Retrieved 2021-11-03.
  4. "CollectiveAccess". Lightwork Collection. Retrieved 2021-11-03.
  5. Sheets, Hilarie M. (2012-04-25). "It's an Absurd World, So Send in the Clowns". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-11-02.
  6. Lehat, Sarah (2014-01-17). "Time of the Empress: Architectural Identity and the Persistence of Hope". HuffPost. Retrieved 2021-11-03.
  7. Bryan-Wilson, Julia; Hunt, Barbara (2000). Bodies of Resistance. Duets. Essays by Gregg Bordowitz (essay), Hoosen Coovadia (essay), Lisa Forman (essay), Barbara Hunt (essay), Richard Meyer (essay), Barry A. Rosenberg (essay), Simon Watney (essay), and Julia Bryan Wilson (essay). Visual AIDS. ISBN 978-0-9678425-0-9.
  8. Assunção, Muri (August 21, 2017). "How AIDS Changed Art Forever". vice.com. Retrieved 2021-11-03.
  9. Nakiska, Tempe (9 October 2014). "Revolt the system: Parsons The New School's Anthony Aziz talks student subcultures and the politics wave". Hero. Retrieved 2021-11-03.
  10. "Motley's the Only Wear". ArtPremium. 2017-10-09. Retrieved 2018-05-03.
  11. "Keith Seward on Aziz + Cucher". Artforum.com. December 1992. Retrieved 2021-11-03.
  12. "Nico Israel on Aziz + Cucher". Artforum.com. March 2001. Retrieved 2021-11-03.
  13. Sarnoff, Irving; Sarnoff, Suzanne (2002-11-05). Intimate Creativity: Partners In Love And Art. University of Wisconsin Press. p. 35. ISBN 978-0-299-18053-9.
  14. "Aziz + Cucher". SFMOMA. Retrieved 2021-11-03.
  15. "Maria". Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). Retrieved 2021-11-03.
  16. "Sybill". Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). Retrieved 2021-11-03.
  17. "Maria, from the series "Dystopia" Photograph". San José Museum of Art. Retrieved 2021-11-03.
  18. Rothfeld, Becca (2015-05-12). "What Was Art of the 1990s All About?". Hyperallergic. Retrieved 2021-11-03.
  19. Berry, Josephine (1997-01-10). "Evolution and Obsolence (Aziz + Cucher at the Photographer's Gallery)". Mute magazine. Archived from the original on 2008-10-13. Retrieved 2021-11-03.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.