Flight from Abstraction - (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

In the early 20th century, the Russian artist Kazimir Malevich painted his seminal work, "The Black Square." This painting launched the abstract art movement in which all representational forms from the natural world, such as birds, were deliberately obscured from view. Strolling through modern art galleries, Michael King tried to imagine how the paintings would change if the "birds" could reappear from their captivity. He uses photomontage in this book to allow the birds to escape the rigid confines of abstract paintings.

About the Author

Michael King is a Massachusetts-based photographer. He is a retired physicist who worked in diverse fields of optical imaging. King has achievements and inventions in 3-dimensional holographic imaging, electron device photolithography and refractive eye surgery (PRK). A lifelong interest in photographic expression has led him to his present pursuit, using digital photography to explore the intersection between real and imagined realities.

King has exhibited his photos in group and juried exhibitions at venues including the Griffin Museum of Photography (Winchester, MA), the Concord Art Association (Concord, MA), PhotoPlace Gallery (Middlebury, VT), and the Praxis Gallery (Minneapolis, MN). Early in his career he had a hologram accepted into the Museum of Holography in Manhattan, which later transferred its collections to the MIT Museum in Boston.

King has studied photography at the Griffin Museum, NESOP and the deCordova Museum, all located in Massachusetts, and at Maine Media. He holds a Ph.D. in physics from Carnegie Mellon University.