Signed; Virginia Wilcox - Arboreal - 2021

First edition, first printing. Signed. New book.

Under the harsh cover of the Los Angeles smog, photographic artist Virginia Wilcox finds softness in the city’s natural landscapes. In her debut monograph, Arboreal, Wilcox captures black and white scenes in Los Angeles’ sprawling parks. Stark and provocative, the subjects seem more “tree-like” or “related to trees,” an extension of their surroundings. Wilcox’s photographs document the conjunction of human and nature; a coat left hanging from a tree or the outline of a bare branch mimicking the Los Angeles skyline blur the boundaries between what is natural and what is not. The people in her work seem to blend into the endless, dry terrain, asking the viewer to question where they end, and the landscape begins. Wilcox says her photographs “Offer a winding journey through a mangled urban landscape that looks something like wilderness, towing the line between the natural and built environment.” Her work is complex, creating tension between the real and the artificial. Through a loving eye, Wilcox is able to frame the nuances of Los Angeles topography with a curated, pointed gaze. Arboreal, she says, is “A suggestion of infinity.”