Stephen Daiter Gallery is pleased to welcome in the New Year with "The Transparent City", artist Michael Wolf's dramatic interpretation of Chicago's architectural landscape.
The genesis for this project was Wolf's first visit to Chicago in 2005. During a ride on the famous "el" train downtown, he saw many visual possibilities inherent in the city's architectural masses. Through the aid of the Museum of Contemporary Photography he met a local philanthropist from the U.S. Equities Realty artist in residence program who helped fund the "The Transparent City" and provided him with access to the buildings and vantage points explored throughout the project.
"The Transparent City" surveys the density and magnitude of Chicago's skyline. Wolf's large scale prints reveal the enormity of its skyscrapers at the same time they enable us to observe intimate and private goings on within individual apartments and offices. By cropping out traces of street and sky Wolf constructs an abstracted and endless world of windows, lights and reflections. He has created a group of photographs which remain familiar and at the same time fantastic.
Michael Wolf was born in Munich, Germany in 1954. He grew up in the United States and studied at University of California at Berkeley and at the University of Essen in Germany. He recently moved to Paris after a ten year stay in Hong Kong during which time he produced "Architecture of Density" (precursor to The Transparent City).

Listen to an interview with Michael Wolf on Chicago Public Radio's 848 program: WBEZ Chicago Public Radio