James Casebere and Jose Dávila

The Poetic Dimension

Sean Kelly, Los Angeles

September 13 - November 1, 2025

Sean Kelly, Los Angeles is delighted to announce The Poetic Dimension, a two-person exhibition featuring photographs by James Casebere and new sculptures by Jose Dávila. Marking the first time these two artists have been paired together, the exhibition centers around their shared dialogue on the work of Mexican modernist architect Luis Barragán. Through their respective practices, Casebere and Dávila explore the expressive potential of form, space, and color, inviting a deeper meditation on architecture’s emotional resonance.

James Casebere and Jose Dávila - The Poetic Dimension - Exhibitions - Sean Kelly Gallery

James Casebere’s photographs in The Poetic Dimension respond directly to Luis Barragán’s architectural masterpieces, including the Gilardi House, the Galvez House, and the architect’s home and studio in Mexico City.

A seminal figure in the Pictures Generation, Casebere is known for constructing meticulously crafted models that he photographs, reimagining built environments through a conceptual lens. In these works, he engages with Barragán’s spaces not simply as formal subjects, but as sites of emotion and psychological depth.

"It’s my attempt to embody the spirit and ambition and values that Barragán tried to create—to create ‘an emotional architecture,’ as [Barragan] put it."
- James Casebere

By subtly modifying architectural elements, adding apertures, altering proportions, and shifting light, Casebere imbues his images with an affective charge, deepening their contemplative quality.

As he notes, Barragán’s architecture is “contemplative and solitary and beautiful, without the associations of confinement.” This poetic sensibility resonates strongly with Casebere’s practice, which has long sought to explore how architecture can reflect social structures, elicit emotional states, and inspire transformation.

Barragán’s architectural language has been a foundational influence for Jose Dávila, who trained as an architect before turning to sculpture. His materially rich works incorporate industrial elements, including ratchet straps and concrete juxtaposed with natural materials such as volcanic stone, balancing tension and gravity with a distinctive elegance.

In these new sculptures, Dávila continues his investigation into structural equilibrium and formal restraint, using vibrant color and precarious construction to create works with both conceptual clarity and playful irreverence.

"I’ve always been interested in using raw, untouched materials rather than transforming a material’s shape or form. I’m more interested in creating an interplay between elements as they are." - Jose Dávila

Dávila’s engagement with Barragán’s legacy is most evident in his chromatic palette featuring bright hues of red, blue, and yellow which directly reference the architect’s structures and draw from the vernacular architecture of Mexico.

Like Barragán, Dávila elevates raw, utilitarian materials into expressions of volume, color, and balance.

As Luis Barragán wrote, “Architecture is an art when one consciously or unconsciously creates aesthetic emotion in the atmosphere and when this environment produces well-being.” In the spirit of this philosophy, The Poetic Dimension foregrounds how both Casebere and Dávila translate architecture’s fundamental elements, light, form, color, material, into transcendent aesthetic experiences. Engaging in a deeply personal dialogue with Barragán’s legacy, they reveal how the built environment can become a vehicle for reflection.

Installation Views

Installation Views Thumbnails

Installation view of James Casebere and Jose Dávila: The Poetic Dimension at Sean Kelly, Los Angeles, September 13 – November 1, 2025, Photography: Brica Wilcox, Courtesy: Sean Kelly, New York/Los Angeles

Selected Works

Selected Works Thumbnails

James Casebere
Courtyard with Foliage (Day), 2021
framed archival pigment print mounted to Dibond
paper: 53 7/8 x 46 3/4 inches (136.8 x 118.7 cm)
framed: 56 11/16 x 49 9/16 x 2 1/4 inches (144 x 125.9 x 5.7 cm)
JC-287.1

James Casebere
Empty Studio, 2017
framed archival pigment print mounted to dibond
paper: 44 3/8 x 66 1/2 inches (112.7 x 168.9 cm)
framed: 47 x 69 3/16 x 2 1/4 inches (119.4 x 175.7 x 5.7 cm)
JC-254.1

James Casebere
Courtyard with Orange Wall, 2017
framed archival pigment print mounted to Dibond
paper: 64 3/8 x 44 3/8 inches (163.5 x 112.7 cm)
framed: 67 x 47 x 2 1/4 inches (170.2 x 119.4 x 5.7 cm)
JC-261.4

James Casebere
Vestibule, 2016
framed archival pigment print mounted to dibond
paper: 62 x 44 3/8 inches (157.5 x 112.7 cm)
framed: 64 11/16 x 47 x 2 1/4 inches (164.3 x 119.4 x 5.7 cm)
JC-251.M.4

Jose Dávila
Fundamental Concern, 2025
concrete and boulder
75 9/16 x 47 1/4 x 26 7/8 inches (192 x 120 x 68.2 cm)
unique
JDa-25.01

Jose Dávila
Fundamental Concern, 2025
concrete and boulder
69 1/8 x 23 11/16 x 19 5/8 inches (175.6 x 60.1 x 49.9 cm)
unique
JDa-25.85

Jose Dávila
Joint Effort, 2024
concrete, boulder, and ratchet strap
92 13/16 x 26 1/2 x 22 5/8 inches (235.7 x 67.3 x 57.5 cm)
unique
JDa-24.94