Phillip Maisel
Encants (5184), 2020/2021

Archival pigment print, 17 x 25.5 inches
AP, signed, on label
Unframed
Courtesy of the artist
Estimated value: $750

My practice often involves collecting materials from specific locations, creating sculptural arrangements with them, and then making photographs and collages based on these still lifes; recontextualizing the various histories of the materials in the process. 

Produced in early March 2020 in Barcelona and printed exclusively for SF Camerawork, this piece depicts old photographs and postcards collected from the Mercat dels Encants, a flea market with 14th century roots in the Mediterranean city. In Catalan the word ‘encants’ means ‘charms’, but it comes from the two words ‘en cants’, which literally translate to ‘in songs’, a reference to the vendors’ tradition of beckoning buyers through shouting or singing - a doubling of meaning built into the name of the place.

Looking back at this work now makes me think of the specific kind of stasis and related longing that came quickly after this work was made with the first lockdown. But I also find myself thinking about another moment in history in which the death of travel was anticipated. In the mid-19th century with the popularization of early photography and more specifically stereography, it was thought by some that travel would be a thing of the past because of how the richness, clarity, and immersiveness of the image 'took them there.’

About the Artist:
Phillip Maisel

Maisel holds an MFA in visual arts from California College of the Arts in San Francisco (2013), and a BS degree in psychology from McGill University in Montreal (2003). Solo exhibitions include Gregory Lind Gallery in San Francisco, Shulamit Nazarian in Los Angeles, and Document in Chicago. His work has also been exhibited at the William Benton Museum, Storrs, CT; University of New Mexico, Taos; and DeCordova Museum, Lincoln, MA. He just completed the Short-Term Residency at Hangar in Barcelona, at which he produced the artist book Two Concrete Things in collaboration with Chiquita Room in Barcelona.

Reviews of his work have appeared in Lenscratch, Art Practical, Modern Painters, and Fabrik, among other publications. Maisel lives and works in San Francisco and Barcelona.

Website: phillipmaisel.com
Instagram: @pphilmm
Venmo: @pphilmm