Esteban Chavez

Due to sizing, this RUN does not come with a framing option.

This RUN includes:
1 - David Scott Print
1 - Michigan Central Depot Print
1 - Guardian Building Print
1 - One Woodward Avenue Print
1 - Renaissance Center Print
1 - Book Cadillac Hotel Print
1 - One Detroit Center Print
1 - Fisher Building Print
1 - Book Building Print
1 - Penobscot Building Print

Most of the iconic buildings in downtown Detroit were built in the first half of the 20th century. Six of the ten buildings featured in this show were opened between 1926 and 1929! Few American cities could equal such output. Opened in 1913, the oldest structure in the show is the Michigan Central Depot, surely one of America’s grandest railroad stations and one that should never see a wrecking ball. The Fisher and Guardian Buildings, both completed on the cusp of the Great Depression, are two of the country’s best and most inventive examples of highrise buildings in the Art Deco style. Albert Kahn and Smith, Hinchman and Grylls (Wirt Rowland) designed these two sophisticated buildings, respectively, and these two firms deserve special mention for their world-class work (as well as many other fine buildings that did not qualify for this show because they were not high-rises). The other three buildings in the show were sprinkled through the second half of the 20th century and are excellent examples of Modern and Postmodern architecture. In total, the architecture of these buildings is an amazing and powerful statement what it means to be a great metropolis.

Esteban Chavez’s Detroit’s Top Ten is a unique collection of Detroit’s most famous landmarks utilizing Esteban’s internationally recognized style of photo imagery. For this series Chavez has created 10 oversized photolithography editions. For each piece he photographs buildings or architectural details, scans the negatives into the computer and generates the images into film positives. The film positives - which are the actual size of the lithographs - are then exposed to photographic lithographic plates and the plates are then inked by hand and rolled through a traditional hand cranked press. The results are the fine art lithographs you see here.

ABOUT THE ARTIST:
Born in Denver, Colorado 1954 Esteban Chavez holds an undergraduate BFA from UC Berkeley, California 82 and a MFA from the Yale School of Art, New Haven, CT 85. He is a professional artist and has lived in NYC since 1985. In the spring of 2003, Esteban received a Fellowship from the New York Foundation for the Arts. 

Born in Denver, Colorado 1954 Esteban has an undergraduate BFA from UC Berkeley, California 82 and a MFA from the Yale School of Art, New Haven, CT 85. He is a professional artist and has lived in NYC since 1985. In the spring of 2003, Esteban received a Fellowship from the New York Foundation for the Arts.

The technique used by Esteban is photolithography. He photographs buildings or architectural details, scans the negatives into the computer and generates the images into film positives. The film positives are the actual size of the lithographs. The films are than exposed to photographic lithographic plates and the plates are then 'inked up' by hand rolling ink onto them. Paper is placed on the inked plate and rolled through a traditional hand cranked press. The result is a fine art lithograph.