Robert Koch Gallery is pleased to present Paris Abstract, an exhibition premiering new work by renowned photographer, Michael Wolf. With Paris Abstract, Wolf continues his exploration of the urban landscape and expands on his fascination with density and life in cities. Formal in nature, Paris Abstract lyrically expresses both the architectural complexity and density of the Parisian landscape.

In 2008, Wolf began living part-time in Paris after living in Hong Kong for over a decade. At that time he was apprehensive about the prospect of working in his new home city, concerned about the clichés associated with images of Paris. It was during this period that he produced the series Paris Street Views by essentially sequestering himself in his apartment and appropriating images of Paris from Google Street View.

Since then, with his distinct perspective, Wolf photographed Paris eschewing well-known locations and focusing instead on the innumerable roof tops each with its own identity. Wolf’s strong geometric abstractions offer the viewer a freshly re-contextualized Parisian landscape that examines the density and life in a contemporary metropolis.

Born in Munich in 1954, Michael Wolf was raised in the United States and Germany. He studied at UC Berkeley before earning a degree from the University of Essen in Germany as a student of Otto Steinert. Wolf is recipient of a 2005 and 2010 World Press Photo Award, and his work was included in the Hong Kong Pavilion at the 2010 Venice Biennale for Architecture. Wolf’s work has been exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, the Deutsches Architektur Museum in Frankfurt, the Museum der Arbeit in Hamburg, and the Bauhaus Museum in Dessau. His photographs are included in prestigious collections both domestically and abroad at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Deutsches Architektur Museum, and the Museum Folkwang, Essen.

Also on view at the gallery is PARIS AND ITS ENVIRONS which features a selection of vintage photographs of Paris, including works by Atget, Baldus, Brassaï, Durandelle, Duval, and Marville.