Brian Ulrich
American photographer (born 1971)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Brian Ulrich (born 1971) is an American photographer known for his photographic exploration of consumer culture.[1]
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Life and work
Ulrich was born in Northport, New York,[2] and lives in Providence, Rhode Island.[citation needed] He received a BFA in photography from University of Akron in Akron, Ohio (1996) and an MFA in photography from Columbia College Chicago (2004).[2] He has taught photography at Columbia College Chicago and Gallery 37, both in Chicago; and at the University of Akron.[2] He is an Associate Professor of Photography at the Rhode Island School of Design.[3]
In 2001 in response to a national call for citizens to bolster the American economy through shopping, Ulrich began a project to document consumer culture. This project, Copia, is a series of large scale photographs of shoppers, retail spaces, and displays of goods. Initially focused on big-box retail establishments and shoppers, the series expanded to include thrift stores, back rooms of retail businesses, art fairs and most recently empty retail stores and dead malls.[4]
Ulrich works with a combination of 4×5 large format and medium format cameras,[5] and also incorporates found objects as sculpture, juxtaposed with his photographs on gallery walls.[6]
Publications
Publications by Ulrich
- Is This Place Great or What. New York: Aperture; Cleveland Museum of Art, 2011. ISBN 978-1597111928.[7]
- Closeout: Retail Relics and Ephemera. Anderson Gallery, 2013. With an interview with and an essay by Will Steacy.
Publications with contributions by Ulrich
- MP3: Midwest Photographers Project. New York: Aperture, 2006. ISBN 978-1683951506.
Exhibitions
Solo
- 12 x 12: Shoppers, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (2005)[8]
- Copia, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (2006–2007);[9][10] Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, Overland Park, KS (2008)[11]
Group
- Manufactured Self, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, IL (2005)[12]
- On the Scene, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL (2005)[13]
- Photocentric, Minnesota Center for Photography, Minneapolis, MN (2005)
- MP3, Kelli Connell, Justin Newhall, and Brian Ulrich, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, (2006)[14]
- Presumed Innocence: Photographic Perspectives of Children, DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, MA, (2008)[15]
- World's Away: New Suburban Landscapes, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN;[16] Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA (2008)[17]
- Made in Chicago, Photographs from the LaSalle Bank Collection, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL (2008)
Awards
- 2007: Photo District News 30 Emerging Photographers to Watch[citation needed]
- 2009: Guggenheim Fellowship in photography from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation[18]
Collections
Ulrich's work is held in the following permanent collections
- Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego: 1 print (as of September 2020)[19]
- Museum of Fine Arts, Houston[citation needed]
- Art Institute of Chicago: 4 prints (as of September 2020)[20]
- Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago: 17 prints (as of September 2020)[21]