Bill Finger spent 16 years working as a movie-set cameraman before packing it in to become an artist. He can run, but he cannot hide. In every way, the career that he ditched informs the one he moved into.
He builds models that he photographs as full-scale environments. After Thomas Demand, Oliver Boberg, James Casebere and Ross Sawyers,
it’s a popular strategy, but Finger’s are unlike anyone else’s. They were born worn out and anonymous, as if endless actors had been interrogated inside his police station…
stared out his window …
or glanced at the extra sleeping on a mattress that had been distressed by the special effects department.
Although he tends to avoid the particular, when he engages it, he goes all the way to iconic.
The stage sets Finger filmed and later recreated to photograph and dispose of resonate with moments of his childhood. They are memories potent enough to register outside his head and generalized enough to connect with similar memories of others. The only fox holes he dug, for instance, were in his childhood, playing war while Vietnam was ablaze on the nightly news. He was both bored and transfixed by what looked like his future. The ladder he made is missing a few rungs, giving its user a reason to continue to hide in his hole.
At Punch Gallery through Nov. 28.
Great article on a soon-to-be great artist!
Wonderful stuff. Are any prints available online?
Keep up the work!
Looks like a great show! Congratulations Bill.
I am pleased to say that Bill Finger has some limited editions of his work available through Circuit Gallery. He is one of the artists whose work we offer.
You can find more of his work on his artist page.
(Hope this helps Eric.) Cheers.