Ahron Weiner on the Verge: Bringing “The Flood” to Brooklyn

By Tom Johansmeyer on Luxist | Tweet

There were breaks in the rain, but the day ended with small rivers flowing through the gutters in Brooklyn’s DUMBO neighborhood. It was the last day of Armory week in New York City, an event consisting of art fairs all over the city, ranging from colossal reputations and incredible valuations to emerging artists eager for their first tastes of success and notoriety. I was on my way to the Verge show, itself spread out over several locations.

If you want to find something unique or unusual, Verge is the place to go. You’ll have to sift through a lot of good efforts (as opposed to successful results), but the one piece that blows your mind is worth it. I found it at 20 Jay Street: “The Flood,” by Ahron Weiner.

There is nothing conventional about Weiner’s photography, except, perhaps, for the fact that he uses a camera. After that, he’s truly exploring new territory. “The Flood” is part of a larger effort that tells the stories of the Old Testament through rehabilitated advertising images.
Okay, that’s a lot to digest. So, let’s step through the concept.

If you ever see a tall (by my standards, at least) man with long blond hair chipping through the advertising posters on Manhattan scaffolds, there’s a good chance it’s Weiner. These posters are slapped up all over the city, with the new simply covering up the old … and so on. It’s endless. Weiner goes in the opposite direction. He peels away at the layers, looking for a story to emerge. Starting with what strikes him as an interesting advertisement, he pulls to see what lies beneath.

Watch the video of Ahron and the Flood.