Alexander Apostol

In “In Lieu of Modernity,” at Space Other, Alexander Apostol of Madrid examines the failed utopian promise of modern architecture in his native Caracas, Venezuela. The main event (as I wrote in this review) is 13 six-foot-tall photos of buildings from his Residente Pulido (2001, 2003) series: they line the gallery’s main hall as if it were a city street. On one side, Apostol digitally removed doors and windows from modernist Caracas buildings. The other side features apartment buildings with windows and doors physically blocked up because of crime. It’s a sad, uncanny brew of images and ideas. The city looks closed up, turned in on itself, the buildings becoming unsettling sculpture, eerie monuments, mausoleums. The videos that fill out the exhibition are less interesting.

Alexander Apostol, “In Lieu of Modernity,” Space Other, 63 Wareham St., Boston, Oct. 4 to Nov. 3, 2007.