James Welling Retrospective at MOCA Los Angeles

A retrospective of James Welling's photography at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, brings together works from 1974 to 1999. Welling's practice spans black-and-white studies of architecture, railroads, and factories, as well as abstract works like the New Abstractions series (1998-99), created without a camera by arranging cardboard strips on photosensitive paper. Early works such as Heart of Glass (1980), Wreckage (1981), and In Search of (1981) explore photography's illusionistic properties through crumpled aluminum foil and draped fabric. The series Los Angeles Architecture (1976-78) captures buildings at night, emphasizing window lighting and shadows. Light Sources (1992-98) includes images like Meriden (1992) and Place de la Duchesse (1996), where light defines the scene. Welling also produced documentary series on railroads (1987-92), H. H. Richardson's 19th-century architecture (1988-94), and a European lace factory. The exhibition highlights his interest in the intersection of photography and painting, and his manipulation of both natural and artificial light.