Jeff Brouws, Signs Without Signification, 2003–2007

Jeff Brouws scrutinizes the American built environment looking for simple structures that multiply across the landscape—strip malls, tract housing, parking lots. His “Signs Without Signification” portfolio focuses on defunct armatures of signage at failed businesses, a familiar feature of industrial wastelands. Brouws photographed these relics of a bygone era dramatically from below. Each sign takes center stage against a brilliant blue or cloudy sky. The artist seems to pay homage to the singularity of each skeletal form, taking care to shoot it from its most dynamic angle. Arranging the images as a succession of like items in a grid, Brouws participates in a rich tradition of conceptual photography, drawing in particular on California artist Ed Ruscha’s typologies of gas stations and palm trees.

Stamp Gallery, 2016