Max Steven Grossman

Artist Bio

Exploring the changing accessibility and value of books and photography, Max Steven Grossman’s Bookscapes series visualizes libraries that exist only in his imagination. Curated thematically through an intricate process of digital collage, Grossman builds each bookcase with photographs he has stockpiled from public and private collections, bookstores, and online. Organized by topic, Grossman often returns to his favored motifs: fashion, architecture, art, and rock and roll.

Presented in large-scale formats, Grossman creates the illusion of standing before a physical library. Stacked closely and overlapping, the crowded shelves spotlight each book’s title and cover image for a perfect, archival summation of the subject matter. Encouraging an ongoing dialogue, each Bookscape is both personal and universal, depending on the viewer’s curiosity and relationship to the field of study. Alluding to the gradual loss of paper books, Grossman allows for the physical world to be replaced by his virtual constructions, all the while presenting a collection of printed knowledge that is within reach, but ultimately unattainable.

Max Steven Grossman (B. 1971, Barranquilla, Colombia) graduated from the University of Philadelphia in 1994 with a degree in engineering. Soon after, he discovered his passion for photography. In 2000, Grossman graduated from New York University and the International Center of Photography with a Master of Arts. Grossman’s background in the diverse studies of engineering and photography has helped mold not only his signature style, but has propelled his practice towards a deeper examination of reality versus fantasy.