Fabrik Projects

Fabrik Projects is a contemporary art gallery based in Los Angeles, dedicated to supporting and promoting emerging and mid-career artists across various disciplines. With a strong emphasis on contemporary photography, Fabrik Projects showcases a diverse range of photographic styles, including documentary, fine art, portraiture, landscape, and experimental photography. For Paris Photo 2024, we are presenting works by American photographic artist Jessie Chaney with her ongoing Memory of a Space series. Memory of a Space brings into focus numerous forlorn and overlooked sites the artist has encountered in her travels. These abandoned spaces are remnants of progress and change, empty buildings which provide evidence of previous inhabitants. Whether changes of fortune or the construction of new nearby highway leaves such places cut of and ultimately deserted, they still hold many telltale pointers to the lives and loves that once filled them. Chaney finds beauty within the ruins and detritus that society leaves behind. Rather than mourn what has been lost, she celebrates the little details that have been found and provide glimpses into the past. While Chaney’s photographs are essentially devoid of people, they still evoke an aura of humanity. The images tell stories through what has been left behind, fallen into ruin and often subsequently unofficially re-adorned with contemporary imagery. If her photographs convey an air of nostalgia, it is not intended to be facile. Memory of a Space draws attention to the rapid changes in modern life, while celebrating small mementos of civilization. Chaney began this series before the global pandemic, yet the work has taken on additional meaning. These abandoned spaces, rather than reflecting the challenges of our current moment, invite us to consider them as potential refuges - serene sanctuaries of stillness and silence amidst a frenetic world. Though forgotten, they retain a lingering aura of humanity, evoking a sense of nostalgia and the perpetual journey that is life. As Leonard Cohen wrote, 'There is a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in.' In Chaney's work, the imperfections and traces of the past in these spaces become apertures for reflection and illumination. Focusing on the impact of societal change, Chaney's abandoned spaces now might be seen as possible safe havens for the future.