Syracuse Sun

Light Work is set to present "Asea," an exhibition of new works by Nicholas Muellner. The exhibition will open on Tuesday, Sept. 3, and run through Friday, Dec. 13. An opening reception is scheduled for Thursday, Sept. 19, from 5-7 p.m., in the Kathleen O. Ellis Gallery.

In "Asea," Muellner showcases photographs depicting people pantomiming in a verdant landscape with surreal lighting. These images are paired with an issue of Contact Sheet that serves as a guidebook to the exhibition. The text in Contact Sheet is described as "wryly poetic and succinct," loosely leading viewers from picture to picture.

The exhibition features an installation that divides the gallery into two rooms, creating an atmosphere where viewers float both in space and time. Most portraits depict individuals connected to the maritime economy, photographed in their respective living landscapes: Marseille, Odesa, Milan, Long Beach. Subjects gesture toward the camera with invisible tools of their trades, suggesting an estrangement from their concrete identities.

Muellner's "Asea" projects a state of limbo and a search for personal meaning within photography’s narrative limits. Viewers are encouraged to ponder alone within parameters set by the photographs and text.

Nicholas Muellner is known for his books such as "Lacuna Park: Essays and Other Adventures in Photography," "The Amnesia Pavilions," and "In Most Tides an Island." His work has been exhibited solo across the United States and Europe, supported by institutions like MACK/SPBH, Aperture, Radius, Triple Canopy, Foam, and Routledge. He has performed internationally at venues including MoMA PS1 and Carnegie Museum.

Muellner holds a B.A. in comparative literature from Yale University and an M.F.A. from Temple University. He is the founding co-director of the Image Text MFA and ITI Press at Cornell University.

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