Library, 2010

In Library by the Cuban-American artist Anthony Goicolea (1971, United States), two car headlamps gleam through a thick layer of snow. Behind the windscreen, wiped clear of snow, we see no driver, only a pile of books. The image defies all logic, and yet our gaze remains fixed on it.

Goicolea is known for his powerful, almost melancholy imagery, in which themes such as personal history, cultural traditions and detachment are central. He gained international renown with his staged photos of alienating landscapes: dreamlike forests and pitiless urban environments. Landscapes where no human is to be seen, but where traces of human presence are discernible. The images bring about a feeling of displacement, in which human beings seem alienated both from each other and from the natural environment of which they form a part.

Anthony Goicolea lives and works in New York (US). He graduated from the Pratt Institute of Art in New York. His work is exhibited throughout the world and features in public and private collections, including the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York (US); the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (US); and The Museum of Modern Art, New York (US).