THE CITY OF NAMARA by Robert G. Achtel presents an American city somewhere between reality and fiction, poetry and pulp, through six composite photographs meticulously created from the artist’s own architectural studies. The citizens are nowhere to be seen, yet it's the human drama presented in each piece that pulls the viewer into a thrilling game of excess and despair. On the surface, Namara alludes to a period of architectural upheaval when the standards of Modernism were questioned, if not rejected, by a new school of Architects. At the end of the 1960s, the truth had become all but relative, and this new age was reflected in the architecture - irony, seduction, and profitability - the greatest party of all time. But, not everyone was invited.

Through his imagined architecture, artist Robert G. Achtel subtly reflects upon existential human themes such as love, loss, sexuality, and addiction, while the confluence of the built environment and the natural create a seemingly idyllic, yet sardonic view of American consumer culture. The works are instantly arresting due to a unique photo-graphic design process, a meticulous hybrid of analog and digital methods, and their striking compositional continuity. For this presentation the artist has shared many of the source photographs used to construct each piece for the first time, providing an entertaining insight into his process and vision. Further background and biographic references can be found at the end of the presentation.