Markus Brunetti:
FACADES

For sales inquiries, please contact: 

 

Brunetti’s practice is often likened to Bernd and Hilla Becher’s serial documentation of German industrialization, yet the artist himself aligns his methods more closely with the tradition of Old Master painting. Like the masters of the Renaissance, the artist offers interpretations of his monumental subjects, not simply by photographing them, but by crafting a view of each structure according to his conceptual understanding of its architecture. Brunetti’s images thus offer their own Bildsprache or visual language, that translates the presence of each building in three dimensional space into an idealized, two dimensional image that showcases the finest details of every square-meter of the façade. In this way, the artist preserves the cultural heritage these structures embody, immortalizing them in his impeccable renderings.

The unique embellishments and stylistic features of Brunetti’s subjects take on new meaning when works from the series are placed in conversation. The artist presents images of sacred buildings from similar time periods and architectural movements, yet which differ vastly in their design, material, and construction. In the work Cambridge, King’s College Chapel (2014-2023) the construction began in 1446 and was completed in 1515 in England. The church is an exemplar of Perpendicular Gothic architecture, with its clean vertical lines, large windows, and regular geometric embellishments. Likewise built in the latter half of the 15th century, the church depicted in Venezia, Santa Maria dei Miracoli (2006-2023) contrasts with King’s College Chapel in its luscious, colored marble façade, curved arches, and small rounded windows. The variations in local resources, politics, and culture had immense impact on the construction of buildings that were erected much for the same purpose: as holy sites and testaments to the far reaches of human achievement and artistic philosophy. Brunetti devotes his painstaking process to creating works of art whose detail, effort, and devotion match that of the structures themselves.