Lucy Williams

Lucy Williams’s richly detailed constructions bring color and texture to images of modernist buildings. Based on vintage photographs she finds in magazines, the works incorporate the materials of architectural models with the process of collage. In the tradition of modern architectural photography, Williams’s compositions are notably devoid of human presence. Parkhaus depicts the façade of Parkhaus Hauptwache, a multi-story parking garage built in 1955-1956 in the center of Frankfurt am Main and designed by architects Max Meid and Helmut Romeick. This innovative landmark building, which resembles a department store, was one of the first large public garages in the Federal Republic of Germany. Williams employed a variety of processes to give the work its own architectural character: the smooth sky was achieved by airbrushing, while the bricks of the building’s façade are hand-painted wooden strips, placed individually, or laid, like bricks themselves.