Empty Spaces Features Article for Students

Do the artworks shown here have anything in common? They all represent structures built by humans but with no people present. The artists who made these works are interested in today’s landscape and the role people play in constructing it. As you read about these artists, take note of the parallels between their contemporary art and the Precisionist art you learned about on the previous pages.

Do the works shown here have anything in common? They all show structures built by humans. But no people are visible. These artists are interested in how people relate to physical spaces. As you read, think about how these works compare with the Precisionist art on the previous pages.

Can you think of a place that holds special meaning to you? Artist Do Ho Suh (doh HOH sah) is interested in what spaces—especially the home— can mean to people. Through his monumental sculptures, Suh examines the idea of home and why it’s important.

Born in South Korea in 1962, Suh has lived in many places. He studied art in the United States, and after living in New York City, he moved to London. For his 2013 Home within Home within Home within Home within Home, above, Suh created a replica of his former home in Providence, Rhode Island. It envelops a suspended replica of his childhood home in Korea.

Suh developed both replicas on a 1:1 scale, meaning they’re the same size as the real houses. He uses 3-D modeling technology and traditional Korean sewing techniques to reconstruct the homes out of fabric. First, Suh measured the original spaces. Then he simplified them, sculpting their basic geometric forms with translucent blue fabric.

Viewers can walk through the spaces, as if entering one of Suh’s own memories.

Artist Do Ho Suh (doh HOH sah) is curious about what makes homes meaningful. He explores this in his monumental (larger-than-life) works.

Suh was born in South Korea in 1962. He has lived in many places. He studied art in the United States and later moved to London. His sculpture above is titled Home within Home within Home within Home within Home. Suh created a fabric replica, or copy, of his former home in Providence, Rhode Island. A replica of his childhood home in Korea hangs inside it. These sculptures are on a 1:1 scale, which means they’re the same size as the real houses!

First Suh measured the houses. Then he used 3-D modeling technology to simplify their forms digitally. The artist used traditional Korean sewing methods to sculpt them out of sheer blue fabric.

Brooklyn-based artist Brian Alfred examines urban and technological landscapes for inspiration. In his 2018-19 work W. 4th St., above, Alfred pulls the viewer into a New York City scene that’s eerily absent of people. The artist used photos of the subway station as references. “I usually start by looking and gathering images and ideas as I come across them,” he says. Before he started painting, he used a computer program to digitally sketch the street corner, reducing it to its most essential forms.

Alfred crops the scene so that the subway entrance fills most of the composition. The artist uses perspective to create depth. With flat color, he renders the geometric planes of the entrance, pavement, and buildings. Alfred seems to ask the question “What is an urban landscape without people?”

Cities inspire New York-based artist Brian Alfred. His 2018-19 W. 4th St., above, brings the viewer into a city scene without people.

First, the artist digitally sketched a New York City street corner. Instead of re-creating every detail, he reduced the image to its most essential forms. Then he painted the scene.

Alfred crops the scene so that the subway entrance fills most of the painting. He uses perspective to create depth in the image. He paints the geometric planes of the entrance, pavement, and buildings using flat color. Alfred draws attention to the structure itself rather than the people who use it.

People often ask Nicola López where the people are in her artwork. Her drawings, prints, and installations feature architectural structures in diverse landscapes—and never include depictions of human figures. “It’s a great question,” López explains. “We are in there, implied through builders and architects of this world, and in there in conversation about natural cycles of decay, growth, and experience.”

In her 2019 Apparition III, above, López uses a printmaking technique to add a structure directly on top of a photograph of a real landscape. The structure slices across the composition on a diagonal, leaving viewers wondering if it is emerging from the sand or decomposing into it.

The intricate black grid evokes the steel beams used to construct skyscrapers and bridges. But it seems out of place when juxtaposed with the natural landscape’s gentle curves and soft light. López invites questions about where and when this scene takes place. And the word apparition, which means phantom or ghost, in the title suggests that maybe the image is simply a mirage. What do you think?

Nicola López never includes human figures in her art. So viewers often ask her where the people are. “It’s a great question,” she says.

López depicts structures in different landscapes. Though her work doesn’t show people, it hints at humans as “the builders and architects of this world,” she says.

For her 2019 artwork Apparition III, above, she uses printmaking to add a structure on top of a photo of a real landscape. Do you think the structure is rising from the sand or sinking into it?

The black grid looks like the steel beams used to build skyscrapers and bridges. It juxtaposes the natural landscape, showing their differences. López invites viewers to wonder where and when this scene takes place. The word apparition in the title means ghost or ghostlike. What do you think that says about the scene?