Adam Wiseman

Patricia Conde Galería presents Film Ends by Adam Wiseman.

Film Ends, Adam Wiseman’s most recent body of work, reduces the photographic process to its most basic and spontaneous element. A serendipitous discovery, Film Ends came about while Wiseman was immersed in the development of his upcoming book Elvis Never Was in Acapulco. While reviewing his archive of old photographs from Acapulco, Wiseman scanned strips of negatives in batches, which inevitably included the tips of the film: the unexposed celluloid that had passed through the same chemical process as the rest of the film. These scans captured the artist’s imagination; they seemed accidentally relevant to the images photographed. Atmospheric textures and tones echo the pictures created on the same roll of film. The careful subjective process of taking a photograph is subverted through the completely uncontrolled randomness of these film ends, yet they somehow complement one another. Wiseman decided to print these analogue scans without retouching them. When seen from afar, they look like carefully constructed abstract expressionist paintings; up close, they reveal the textures and scars of time: scratches, stains, hair and dust. Film Ends became an essential part of Elvis Was Never in Acapulco, creating the atmosphere of a nostalgic, Technicolor, celluloid holiday destination of yesteryear. 

— Patricia Conde Galería