ALEX VOLBORTH 1924-2009
AleatoricArt co-founder Alex Volborth’s interest in art history, world cultures and spiritualism plays a major role in his particular brand of found art photography, which seamlessly juxtaposes decaying objects with geological formations. To call his work simply ‘found art’ is an understatement- ‘found artifacts’ or ‘undiscovered art’ would describe it better, as his photos may include anything from a rock formation bearing a resemblance to the Edvard Munch painting, ‘The Scream’, to a small skeleton of an unknown animal perfectly shilouetted in red sandstone. But whether it’s a piece of a broken bicycle or an old Sicilian ashtray, Volborth shows us more than just that with his uncanny ability to recognize the art in the mundane, and create the sense that he is uncovering a secret- by revealing for the first time what has been there all along.
Homage to Georgia O'Keefe! "FRAGMENTS OF A HUMBLE LIFE" Bones, gravel. On red sandstone. Mohave desert. Nevada.
Homage to Louise Bourgeois! ("Destruction of the Father") plus The Spider "Maman" at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. Also see "Avenza" 1968-9, in Tate. A miniature "combine."Red Sandstone. Mohave Desert, Nevada.
See the inspiration here: http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/louisebourgeois/default.shtm
Homage to Holbein! "The Dance of Death." Red sandstone, sand, and dry grass.
Mohave desert.
Homage to Duchamp (Fountain), Picasso (Head of a Bull), and the Chinese Archaic Horse sculpture of the Han dynasty; ~206 B.C.E. This is a twisted rusty children's bicycle I found in Maria's art gallery for sale!
Read more on Duchamp here: http://arthist.binghamton.edu/duchamp/fountain.html
"Self Portrait." Alex Volborth. Roof of a Redstone cave. Bat guano imprints.
Mohave desert, Nevada. Homage to Francis Bacon.
Homage to Gustav Klimt! "Goldfische 1901-2" Goldfish. Red sandstone boulder. Mohave desert, Nevada. Compare with the "Mother and Child" in original form as found first. See also Diego Riviera's "Espalda Desnuda de una mujer sentada" by clicking here: http://www.diegorivera.com/gallery/p7hg_img_1/fullsize/espalda_fs.jpg
See the original Klimt at http://www.cs.virginia.edu/~dbi9m/klimt/pix/Women/pGoldfish.jpg
"Selenus," Homage to Greece. A satyr. Red sandstone; Mohave desert, Nevada. 2007
"Calavera". Homage to Diego Rivera. Sandstone cave,
Mohave desert, Nevada. 2007.
"Calavera and Kikimora". Homage to Diego Rivera,
Mexico; and the Russian folklore hobgoblin Kikimora. Sandstone cave, Mohave desert, Nevada. 2007"
