James Casebere

Book excerpt: For forty years already the American artist James Casebere has been making models for the sole purpose of photographing them. His work is based on a thorough knowledge of architecture, art history and film. In his pictures he brings up the broader social context and goes in search of the historical and ideological structures thereof. Initially fascinated by ordinary interiors and average American architecture, he later directed his attention to buildings that exude power and control, prison structures, inundated interiors, and world heritage sites. In his most recent work he returns to the everyday by depicting suburban environments. The exhibition at the Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels features examples of domestic spaces as well as monumental structures. His work enters into a dialogue with the particular architecture of the building designed by Victor Horta.