Catherine Wagner’s work focuses on the processes of physical and cultural transition. This exhibition tracks the arc of this theme in her work from the beginning of her career to her most recent project, 1275 Minnesota.

In her first body of work, Early California Landscapes 1974-1982, Wagner photographed construction sites throughout California. These photographs highlight the connection and contradiction between the constructed environment, and the traditionally depicted California landscape. With this series, Wagner developed a reoccurring language in her photographs that she refers to as an ‘Archeology in Reverse.’ These images look to contemporary unconstructed sites in search of insight about an unknown future.

Wagner used that language in her following series, Moscone Site 1979-1981, where she made photographs of the rapid redevelopment of San Francisco’s SOMA district. In the late 1970s, San Francisco’s government decided to move its cultural center to the South of Market corridor, building up a part of the the city that was omitted by a silent demarcation.  For years Wagner was a fixture at the Moscone site.

In 2015, Wagner was commissioned by the Minnesota Street Project to make a body of work based upon the transformation of the 1275 Minnesota Street building. Wagner observed the dismantling of the space, made ephemeral sculptures, and constructed photographs as the former industrial woodshop became a cultural hub. Once again Wagner’s photographs consider the transitory, presenting an ‘Archeology in Reverse.’

For images from 1275 Minnesota, please click here.