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Alex Maclean
The Flying Eye Alex S. MacLean’s (*1947) pictures have something healing about them. They bring to order to what seems at ground level chaotic. The photographer has seen nearly all of the US and… Read more
Intro Bio Exhibitions
Eloy, Arizona, USA
Landslides
€ 2,629
Eloy, Arizona, USA
Landslides
€ 2,629
Background Information about Alex Maclean
Introduction
The Flying Eye
Alex S. MacLean’s (*1947) pictures have something healing about them. They bring to order to what seems at ground level chaotic. The photographer has seen nearly all of the US and Europe from above and shows us the structures of Western lifestyle, told as an overview of growth and decay, of planting and harvesting, of our need to be motorized and on the move and how such a course ends. The abstract concept of spatial order makes sense with the advantage of a bird’s-eye view. MacLean reveals the difference between the natural and the constructed aspects of the environment and most recently took photos of aspects of climate change, taking us with each image to a place we think we know but have never seen like this.
MacLean is a trained architect whose excellent sense of space also qualifies him beyond that field, particularly in landscape architecture. Over the last years he has published numerous collections of photos; his works have been shown across the US, including at the AIPAD Show Miami, as well as extensively at the Arles photo festival. He keeps a studio in Cambridge and lives in Lincoln, Massachusetts.
Alex S. MacLean’s (*1947) pictures have something healing about them. They bring to order to what seems at ground level chaotic. The photographer has seen nearly all of the US and Europe from above and shows us the structures of Western lifestyle, told as an overview of growth and decay, of planting and harvesting, of our need to be motorized and on the move and how such a course ends. The abstract concept of spatial order makes sense with the advantage of a bird’s-eye view. MacLean reveals the difference between the natural and the constructed aspects of the environment and most recently took photos of aspects of climate change, taking us with each image to a place we think we know but have never seen like this.
MacLean is a trained architect whose excellent sense of space also qualifies him beyond that field, particularly in landscape architecture. Over the last years he has published numerous collections of photos; his works have been shown across the US, including at the AIPAD Show Miami, as well as extensively at the Arles photo festival. He keeps a studio in Cambridge and lives in Lincoln, Massachusetts.
Bio
1969 | Harvard College, B.A. |
1973 | Harvard University Graduate School of Design, Master in Architecture |
1975 | Commercial Pilot License |
Studion in Cambridge | |
lives in Lincoln, Massachusetts, USA |
Awards
2006 | Boston Society of Landscape Architects: Award of Excellence |
2004-2003 | American Academy in Rome: Awarded the Rome Prize in Landscape Architecture for 2003-2004 |
2003 | Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts: Grant Recipient, "The Urban Edge: Aerial Illustrations of Contemporary European Growth Patterns" |
2002 | Kansas City Design Center: First recipient of the Center's resident design fellowship. Participant in project entitled "Sustaining a Sense of Region: Civic Dialogues on Ecology, Urbanism, and Metropolitan Growth" |
Lincoln Institute of Land Policy: Grant Recipient, "Visualizing Density", Joint Research Project with Julie Campoli, Landscape Architect | |
1997 | The American Institute of Architects: Eighth Annual Citation for Excellence in International Architecture Book Publishing awarded to "Taking Measures Across the American Landscape" |
The American Society of Landscape Architects: Honor Award in Communications bestowed upon "Taking Measures Across the American Landscape" | |
Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts: Grant Recipient, "The Relation of Inner Cities and Outer Cities between New Haven, CT and New York City", Joint Research Project with Dolores Hayden, Yale University School of Architecture Professor of Architecture and Urbanism and Professor of American Studies | |
1995 | Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts: Grant Recipient, "Historical and Contemporary Land Patterns in Vermont", Research and Development for Exhibit and Book Project |
Eleventh Annual American Photography Competition: Certificate of Excellence | |
1994 | Seaside Institute, Escape to Create Program: Artist in Residence |
1992 | Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts: Grant Recipient, "Taking Measures Across the American Landscape", Exhibit and Book Project |
1990-1992 | National Endowment for the Arts Design Grant: Co-principal Investigator in affiliation with the University of Pennsylvania Department of Landscape Architecture, Landscape Registration Project |
1989/1979 | The Massachusetts Art Fellowship Program: Finalist |
1988 | Artists' Liaison Exhibition: Finalist |
1985 | Massachusetts One Percent for Arts Program: Grant Recipient, Madonna Hall Commission |
1980-1981 | National Endowment for the Arts Design Grant: Demonstration project exploring the uses of aerial photography for urban planning |
1980 | Ossabaw Foundation: Project Member |
Collections
3M Corporation
American Bell
Arthur Anderson and Company
Bank of America
Banque Nationale de Paris
Chase Manhattan Bank
Citibank, N.A.
Consolidated Freight
Dean Witter Reynolds
DeCordova Museum
Dunn and Bradstreet
Federal Express
Federal Reserve Bank, Boston
Fidelity Investments
First Boston
Fleet Bank, Boston
GTE
George H. W. Bush Library
Goldman Sachs
Dudley and G. Herschbach
Hood Museum, Dartmouth College
IBM
Merrill Lynch and Company
Metropolitan Life
Museum of Contemp.Photo., Chicago
North Dakota Museum of Art
Northrop Corporation
NYNEX
Progressive Companies
J. P. Morgan
Reliance Holding Group
Security Pacific Bank
Smith Barney
Steven Spielberg
Texaco
Texas Instruments
Citizen's Bank, USA
Institut d’art Contemporain
Jean-Pierre Michaux
Jean Louis Maubant
Centre Pompidou
Arthur & Trudy Golden
Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporaneo
American Bell
Arthur Anderson and Company
Bank of America
Banque Nationale de Paris
Chase Manhattan Bank
Citibank, N.A.
Consolidated Freight
Dean Witter Reynolds
DeCordova Museum
Dunn and Bradstreet
Federal Express
Federal Reserve Bank, Boston
Fidelity Investments
First Boston
Fleet Bank, Boston
GTE
George H. W. Bush Library
Goldman Sachs
Dudley and G. Herschbach
Hood Museum, Dartmouth College
IBM
Merrill Lynch and Company
Metropolitan Life
Museum of Contemp.Photo., Chicago
North Dakota Museum of Art
Northrop Corporation
NYNEX
Progressive Companies
J. P. Morgan
Reliance Holding Group
Security Pacific Bank
Smith Barney
Steven Spielberg
Texaco
Texas Instruments
Citizen's Bank, USA
Institut d’art Contemporain
Jean-Pierre Michaux
Jean Louis Maubant
Centre Pompidou
Arthur & Trudy Golden
Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporaneo
Exhibitions
Solo Exhibitions
2007 | American Artifacts, Gallery Gabrielle Maubrie, Paris, France |
Wellesley College, Horticulture Visitor Center, Wellesley, MA, USA | |
2006 | Italian and French Landscapes, Panopticon Gallery of Photography, Waltham, MA, USA |
2005 | Airlines, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA, USA |
2003 | Patterns on the Land, Gallery Katz, Boston, MA, USA |
Kansas City Design Center: Towards the Horizon, Commerce Trust Gallery, Kansas City, MO, USA | |
Panopticon Gallery of Photography, Waltham, MA, USA | |
Americaland, BETC Euro RSCG with the French Ministry of Culture and Communication, Paris, France | |
2002 | Play in America Seen from the Sky, Les Rencontres d’Arles 33rd Annual International Photo Festival, Arles, France |
Urbanscapes, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA | |
Perspectives, Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, Boston, MA, USA | |
2001 | American Institute of Architects (local chapter), Dallas, TX, USA |
2000 | From Above: Photographs of Houston, The Menil Collection, Houston, TX, USA |
1997 | Taking Measures Across the American Landscape, Kathleen Ewing Gallery, Washington, D.C., USA |
1994 | Aerial Landscapes, Seaside Institute, Seaside, FL, USA |
1993 | Aerial Landscapes, Boston Society of Architects, Boston, MA, USA |
Looking at the Land, Kathleen Ewing Gallery, Washington, DC, USA | |
Aerial Perspectives, Lincoln Library, Lincoln, MA, USA | |
1990 | From the Air, Kathleen Ewing Gallery, Washington, DC, USA |
1988 | Bell Ross Gallery, Memphis, TN, USA |
1987 | Bain and Company, Boston, MA, USA |
1986 | Currier House, Radcliffe College, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA |
1984 | Bank of America Office Headquarters, San Francisco, CA, USA |
San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco, CA, USA | |
1980 | Panopticon Gallery of Photography, Boston, MA, USA |
1978 | Alfred Stieglitz Gallery, New York, NY, USA |
Baker Library, Harvard University Business School, Cambridge, MA, USA | |
1977 | North Street Gallery, Boston, MA, USA |
Group Exhibitions
2007 | Italian Atlas 2007 Portrait of a Changing Italy, National Museum of the XXI Century, Rome, Italy |
Moving Through New England, DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, Lincoln, MA, USA | |
TO FLY: Contemporary Aerial Photography, Boston University Art Gallery, Boston, MA, USA | |
2006 | Painters of Modern Life: Donation – The Caisse des Depots, Photographic Collection, Centre Pompidou, Paris, France (is now part of the permanent collection of the Musee national d’art moderne) |
Looking at the Landscape: Environmental Puzzles from Three Photographers, Harvard Museum of Natural History, Cambridge, MA, USA | |
2005 | Les temps des lumieres, Nancy, France |
Manufactured Self, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, Il, USA | |
2004 | Inhabiting the World, Forum Universal de les Cultures, Barcelona, Spain |
Shock and Awe, Art Works for the Earth, New Orleans, LA, USA | |
Landscapes, Issabella/Brancolini Arte Contemporanea, Rome, Italy | |
Structure; Architecture in Photography, Gallery Katz, Boston, MA, USA | |
Shrinking Cities, KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin, Germany | |
2002 | Water: An Exhibition of Photography by ASMP New England Photographers, Akillian Gallery at Massasoit Community College, Canton, MA, USA |
2001 | Mutations: Événement Culturel sur la Ville Contemporaine, Arc en Rêve Centre d’Architecture, Brussels, Belgium |
Landscapes Seen and Imagined: Sense of Place and Water: Photographs from the Permanent Collection, DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, Lincoln, MA, USA | |
2000 | Mutations: Événement Culturel sur la Ville Contemporaine, Arc en Rêve Centre d’Architecture, Bordeaux, France |
1999 | The American Lawn: Surface of Everyday Life, The Canadian Centre for Architecture, Montréal, Québec, Canada |
1998 | Drive-Ins: Disappearing Summer Cinema, Yancey Richardson Gallery, New York, NY, USA |
Post-Pastoral: New Images of the New England Landscape, The Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH, USA | |
Water, Water, Everywhere . . . and Not a Drop to Drink, Kathleen Ewing Gallery, Washington, D.C., USA | |
Ground Control, Lombard/Fried Fine Arts, New York, NY, USA | |
1997 | Let It Snow!, Kathleen Ewing Gallery, Washington, D.C., USA |
Aerial Perspectives: Imagination, Reality and Abstraction, D.C. Moore Gallery, New York, NY, USA | |
Lasting Impressions: Looking at the Land, The New Art Center in Newton, Newtonville, MA, USA | |
1996 | The DeCordova Collects Photographs: Recent Acquisitions, DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, Lincoln, MA, USA |
Silver Traces, The Boston Photo Collaborative, Boston, MA, USA | |
1993 | Taking Measures Across the American Landscape, University of Pennsylvania, School of Landscape Architecture, Philadelphia, PA, USA |
Taking Measures Across the American Landscape, Harvard University Graduate School of Design, Cambridge, MA, USA | |
1991 | Good Sports: Art and the Athlete, Nutrilite Exhibit, Buena Park, CA, USA |
1990 | Images of New England, The Wrubel Gallery, Concord, MA, USA |
1989 | In Search of the American Experience, Museum of the National Arts Foundation, New York, NY, USA |
1988 | Aerial Views of the Landscape, Harvard University Graduate School of Design, Cambridge, MA, USA |
1987 | The Edge of Perception, Gensler and Associates/Architects, Los Angeles, CA, USA |
Skyborne: Aerial Photography, North Dakota Museum of Art, Grand Forks, ND, USA | |
1986 | One Percent for Art and the Rebirth of Madonna Hall, The Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield, MA, USA |
1984 | Urban Landscapes, Wilhelm Gallery, Houston, TX, USA |
Highlights from the Bank of America Collection, Bank of America Office Headquarters, San Francisco, CA, USA | |
1983 | H20, Pan American Building, New York, NY, USA (Museum of Modern Art Advisory Service, curator) |
Contemporary Landscapes, Freeport McMoran, New York, NY, USA (Museum of Modern Art Advisory Service, curator) |