Sara VanDerBeek

The photographic and sculptural arrangements of Sara VanDerBeek (born 1976) emulate a poet’s economic use of structure, phrasing and rhythm, to suspend images and multiple processes within a rigorously shaped framework. This first book-length study presents close readings of VanDerBeek’s experimentation with photographic capture, printing, cast-concrete forms and built environments that draw on diverse material cultures. Ultimately, the book distills VanDerBeek’s experiences and recollections of visits to Detroit, New Orleans, Los Angeles, Rome, Paris, Naples, Rotterdam and New York between 2006 and 2016. Contributions by international scholars and curators offer an oblique angle not only into VanDerBeek’s vital practice, but also the ways that VanDerBeek is shaping current debates on the relationship between image and object in contemporary art.