Real Estate #90467 1990

Henry Wessel made this photograph, "Real Estate #90467," sometime in the last century, and you can see that he's really interested in how light and color can transform the mundane. It's almost childlike, this little pink house with its pea-green trim, like a dollhouse left out in the sun. Look how the light washes over the scene, softening the edges and flattening the space. The colors are muted, a little faded, giving the image a nostalgic feel. It’s like Wessel is saying, "Hey, even the most ordinary things can be beautiful if you just look at them the right way.” The composition is so simple, so direct. It reminds me of the work of Ed Ruscha, another artist who found beauty in the everyday. Both artists capture a certain kind of American vernacular landscape. And that's the thing about art, isn't it? It's not about finding the perfect subject, but about finding the perfect way to see.