The Wake

Parking ramps really aren’t very photogenic. They don’t like posing for pictures. Yet, they managed to make an exception for Matt McCauley, a gradate student at the University of Minnesota. McCauley’s photography show entitled “Ramps,” now at Coffman Art Gallery, is a concept show focusing on the utilitarian beauty of these car-carrying buildings.

The show, running through September, features a part of the urban landscape we witness almost everyday and that is considered – well, rather ugly. It was a brave move to make something most people try to ignore the focus of a photography show. Graffiti, grime, cement and florescent lighting don’t seem like prime photographic material, but McCauley’s talent elevates these modern eyesores to a level of genuine artistic appreciation. Each picture works to pull the onlooker into the damp chill of the ramps. Within each frame, the feelings we associate with being inside a parking ramp are brought to the forefront and it is easy to conjure up the sensation that you are there.

McCauley got the idea for “Ramps” from an all too familiar feeling, “I have always felt the need to look behind my back while walking to my car. They [ramps] have always felt mysterious and frightening, though I also viewed them as interestingly beautiful architecturally,” he said. This is a common reaction to his chosen subject matter, which makes the pictures all the more powerful because they invoke that apprehension for the space.

The work for “Ramps” started in February of 2004 and McCauley battled the cold as well as practicalities for his project. “The major challenge in photographing this series was figuring out when the ramp was going to be empty and getting the permission needed to photograph,” McCauley said. He was even kicked-out of the Dayton ramp the first time he tried photographing there. Apparently, even “everyday” subjects are challenging.

Yet ,despite these occasional problems, McCauley achieves a marvelous look at these concrete creations, giving each parking ramp its own distinct feeling and grace. The picture “Municipal Parking at 4th St. and 5th Ave. #3,” with “So Fuckin’ What” scrawled across a cement column, is slightly depressing, even with the rare splash of color. There is a sense of hopelessness in the picture as well as a curiosity to know who sprayed those words. In “Orchestra Hall Ramp Rooftop #2” a glimmer of night sky peeps from the picture and looks down into the dark abyss of the ramp. The city sky offsets the wariness of function and looks crisp in the well composed photo. The curvy LaSalle Court ramp provided McCauley with some of his favorite pictures. “I find the curves and lighting elegant,” he said. “It [the photo] is simple in form, but the curve brings you through the entire photograph.” Another gem in the show is “River Center Ramp Rooftop” where McCauley captures the star-like lamp posts that hold vigil over the parking spaces.

“Ramps” is a look at modern art and architecture that can be shared by many. The cityscape, that familiar landscape in the lives of all urbanites, becomes art and in Matt McCauley’s words, “draws attention to things, ideas and places,” even the loneliest and starkest of structures.