High Altitude · Michael Najjar

bitforms gallery presents a third solo exhibition with German photographic artist Michael Najjar and the world premiere of his "high altitude" series. Merging fact and fiction, Najjar explores the romantic sublime — inspired by Caspar David Friedrich's paintings and his personal expedition to Mount Aconcagua's 22,800-foot summit — to create virtual landscapes that function as meditations on the global market structure, its sophistication, and vulnerability. The nine large-format photographs visually compare natural forces with modern economy by superimposing stock exchange indices over the past 20–30 years onto mountain peaks. As Najjar states: "We now often deal not with real goods and commodities but with chains of signifiers." The work explores sublimity — that mixture of delight and horror — present in both mountains and financial markets, each capable of evoking awe or destruction. Also on view in the project room beginning October 15: "netropolis portfolio," twelve works from Najjar's exploration of urban megastructures and their relationship to digital networks.

Works