Brian Ulrich: Thrift and Dark Stores

Brian Ulrich: Thrift and Dark Stores at Julie Saul Gallery in New York, NY. "...Thrift and Dark Stores is a continuation of his larger project, Copia, a long-term photographic examination of the complexities of the consumer-dominated culture in which we live. His prescient insight into post 9-11 consumerism boom has awarded him a 2009 Guggenheim Fellowship.
Ulrich began his Copia series after 9/11 when President Bush encouraged Americans to shop as a patriotic gesture to boost the economy. He pictured the abundant merchandise in stores and shoppers' fascination with the goods. As the decade progressed Ulrich has enlarged his theme to embrace thrift stores and finally the new landscape of closed and derelict malls and big box stores. Ulrich's image Madison, Wisconsin 2005 of a retail space filled with empty hangers signals the end of a cycle, and is pictured on the cover of the May 2009 issue of Photograph with an essay by Lyle Rexer who writes, 'Ulrich reveals the chaotic ass-end of capitalism'. Thrift looks at the 'last-stop repositories' where goods are sent to die at even more discounted prices. These chaotic dumping grounds of discarded computers and gym shoes raise the question, 'where do we go from here?' At the same time the Dark Stores have an almost apocalyptic quality signally and end a new beginning." More... Works by Brian Ulrich at his personal site.