Discussion, book signing at Harn to feature internationally renowned artists

March 31, 2006

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – University of Florida faculty Andrea Robbins and Max Becher have worked collaboratively for more than 20 years as internationally recognized artists and husband and wife.

At 3 p.m. April 2 at the Harn Museum of Art, the couple will discuss the primary focus of their work, transportation of place – situations in which one limited or isolated place strongly resembles another distant one. Following the discussion, Robbins and Becher will sign copies of their newest book, “The Transportation of Place,” which goes on sale in the Harn gift shop before its official release to stores in May. The book will be discounted 10 percent for the signing event.

Robbins’ and Becher’s work explores traditional notions of place, in which culture and geographic location neatly coincide and are being challenged by legacies of slavery, colonialism, holocaust, immigration, tourism and mass communication. Whether the subject is Germany in Africa, Germans dressing as Native Americans, American towns dressed as Germany, New York in Las Vegas, New York in Cuba, or Cuba in exile, their work reveals a place out of place with its various causes and consequences.

The Harn is currently showing Robbins’ and Becher’s 770 project, which took the artists to Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, California, Israel, New Jersey, Cleveland and Milan to photograph replicas of the Hasidic Lubavitch Jewish headquarters, located at 770 Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn. The 770 project is featured in the Mary Ann Harn Cofrin Pavilion inaugural exhibition, American Matrix: Contemporary Directions for the Harn Museum Collection.

Robbins and Becher have worked individually and collaboratively using photography, film, video and digital media since marrying in 1984. They taught at Cooper Union and Rutgers University before arriving at UF’s School of Art and Art History – Robbins an assistant professor of photography and Becher a digital media assistant professor.

Their work is in the collections of the Harn Museum of Art; The Guggenheim Museum, New York City; The Whitney Museum of Art, New York City; The Jewish Museum, New York City; The New School of Social Research, New York City; The Los Angeles County Museum of Art; The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; St. Louis Museum of Art, Ohio; The Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago; Center for Creative Photography, Tucson Arizona; and Maison Européen de la Photographie (MEP), Paris, France. Their work is shown by the Sonnabend Gallery, New York City; Bernard Toale Gallery, Boston; and Galerie Senda, Barcelona.