Wright Gallery Exhibition Examines Brutalist Architecture With Photography By Leonid Furmansky
An exhibition that explores architectural brutalism and the work of artist Leonid Furmansky continues through Jan. 16 at Wright Gallery in the Langford Architecture Center, Building A.
A panel discussion will be held Jan. 13 at 5:30 p.m. in Geren Auditorium, followed by a reception at 7 p.m. in Wright Gallery. The exhibition is supported by the Academy for the Visual and Performing Arts.
Hosted by the Texas A&M College of Performance, Visualization and Fine Arts and the College of Architecture, “Carbon Copy” includes architectural models and photography by Furmansky, an Austin-based photographer.
“Carbon Copy” examines brutalism, a modernist architectural style. Brutalist buildings are structures of heavy mass, blocky shapes and exposed concrete or brick. The exhibition compares architecture including Le Corbusier’s La Tourette and the building that hosts the exhibition: Texas A&M’s Langford Architecture Center.
Furmansky’s affinity for brutalist architecture developed over several years, and in 2022 he started to form this body of work. He traveled to photograph several brutalist buildings including Dallas City Hall; Boston City Hall in Massachusetts; Yale Architecture Building in New Haven, Connecticut; and the Agronomy Building in Ithaca, New York.
Also featured in the exhibition are models created by James Michael Tate, assistant professor in the College of Architecture, and his architecture students. Their work features three-dimensional models of comparisons to three brutalist buildings built from the 1960s through the 1980s.
Furmansky said he hopes people who view the exhibition embrace life’s small details.
“Every day, we are shaped by our environment — whether it’s the first cup of coffee in the morning or the sunlight streaming through a skylight,” Furmansky said. “Everything we do is influenced by what surrounds us, which makes it essential to open a book or visit a museum. Engaging with art is crucial because, no matter what, it becomes a part of us and stays with us wherever we go.”
