| No Lifeguard on DutyJune 6, 2006- August 18, 2006
John Fitts is a young Los Angeles based photographer originally from Colorado Springs. This first East Coast exhibition is inspired by the New Topography work of the 1970s- particularly Lewis Baltz and Joel Sternfeld. Fitts has travelled over 20,000 miles around the country in search of motels from the sixties, some quietly maintaining, others closed up and derelict. These motels were built when gas was cheap and families were happy to stay in a comfortable room with a refreshing pool. They are located in the desert, others on the highway or right on the coast- Fitt's vision is neither overly cool or dramatic. These beautiful large scale color photographs all speak of an earlier, simpler more optimistic time of leisure and travel. A previous series by Fitts represents public golf courses in Los Angeles. These nocturnal landscapes also combine a keen documentary eye with a poetic sense of nostalgia.
A catalogue has been published in conjunction with the show.
Reviews of No Lifeguard on DutyNew York Times
July 21, 2006 | | Ken Johnson | | "The beautiful, large scale photographs of 1960's-era motel swimming pools - mostly abandoned - by J. Bennett Fitts, a young California artists, owe something to Ed Ruscha and Bernd and Hilla Becher...." |
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