The emergence of virtual, digital worlds has affected almost every aspect of contemporary life. New forms of inhabiting both those new algorithmic worlds and the physical world emerge, through new relationships between the human and the machine. Two objects that have punctuated key moments in the history of Western modernity have undergone a process of radical transformation since the advent of the digital: books and photographs. There has been talk of the demise of books and the demise of photography for quite some time now. It is unlikely, at least for the immediate future, that books and photographs will disappear, but it is a fact that those objects are no longer what they used to be, and that our relationship to the knowledge, truth and power they articulated for centuries has changed. Max Steven Grossman’s bookscapes question these transformations. Printed large enough to pass as an actual library, these images point to the gradual loss of paper books, especially those that inhabited homes and fostered learning, dreaming and escapes. His surface-only libraries literally reproduce both the classic cataloguing systems of libraries, as well as the fantasies and desires of their owners. These images are composites—collages in Grossman’s own words. The books in every image have never quite been placed in that way except in the virtual space of his computer. Grossman photographs some of the books in bookstores he visits, others he finds floating in the sea of internet images. He builds collections, and then chooses from his own image banks. When looked at from a close distance, you can see that each book spine has a distinct image quality, revealing their different provenances, their composite or collage character. Grossman began his career making photographic landscapes and seascapes. If he returns time and again to these bookscapes, it is not only to reflect on the changing nature of books and photographs in the present times. It is also to insist on the dreamlike potential of books, as they keep hidden within their covers, secrets that can only be revealed if you enter them, dive into the pages, allow for physical world to be taken over by the virtual world offered. In an age like ours, of extreme visibility, books can never be fully seen, as they only draw mental pictures—private, individual, immaterial images of other, virtual worlds. EDUCATION 1998-2000Master of Arts New York University (NYU) and International Centre of photography (ICP), NYC, USA 1990-1994Bachelor of Science in Textile Engineering, Philadelphia University, Philadelphia, PA, USA EXHIBITIONS AND ART FAIRS 2025Palm Beach Art Fair, Sponder Gallery Palm Beach, FLSamuel Owen Gallery, Interwoven, Greenwich, CT 2024Sponder Gallery, Art Miami, Miami, FLScope Miami, Axiom Contemporary, Miami, FLArt Market San Francisco, SB Fine Arts, San Francisco, CAPalm Beach Art Fair, Sponder Gallery Palm Beach, FLPalm Springs Fine Art Fair, Axiom Contemporary, Los Angeles, CAArt Wynwood Fair, Contessa Gallery, Palm Beach, FL Laura Rathe Fine Art, Eleven Group Show, Dallas, TXPalm Beach Art Fair, Contessa Gallery, Palm Beach, FLAAFNY, Axiom Contemporary, New York, NY 2023Sponder Gallery, Art Miami, Miami, FLAxiom Contemporary, Context Art Miami, Miami, FLBel-Air Fine Art, group show, Geneva, Switzerland.Bel-Air Fine Art, group show, Saint-Tropez, France.Art Hamptons, Axiom Contemporary, Scottsdale, AZ.Laura Rathe Fine Art, Rewrite Group Show, Dallas, TXArt Market San Francisco, Axiom Contemporary, San Francisco, CAPalm Beach Art Fair, Sponder Gallery Palm Beach, FLContessa Gallery, Palm Beach Art Fair, Palm Beach, FLArden Gallery, Photo Exhibition, Boston MAContessa Gallery, Art Wynwood, Miami, FL 2022LA Art Show, Beatriz Esguerra Art, Miami FL.Laura Rathe Fine Art, Cloud 9 Group Show, Dallas, TXPalm Beach Art Fair, Sponder Gallery Palm Beach, FLSponder Gallery, Art Miami, Miami, FLAxiom Contemporary, Context Art Miami, Miami, FL 2021 Contessa Gallery, Art Miami, Miami, FLSponder Gallery, Art Miami, Miami, FLArden Gallery, Photo Exhibition, Boston MAAxiom Contemporary, I Wanna Rock Group Exhibition, Scottsdale, AZ.AAFNY, Axiom Contemporary, New York, NY 2020Planet Word Museum, Poetry Bookscape Elevators Installation, Washington, DCLaura Rathe Fine Art, Dreamers, Group Exhibition, Houston, TXLaura Rathe Fine Art, Reconstructed, Group Exhibition, Dallas, TXArt on Paper, Axiom Contemporary, New York, NY Laura Rathe Fine Art, Photo exhibit, Dallas, TX Laura Rathe Fine Art, Seeing Group Show, Dallas, TXPalm Springs Fine Art Fair, Axiom Contemporary, Los Angeles, CAArt Wynwood Fair, Sponder Gallery, Boca Raton, FL Galerie de Bellefeuille, Photo Exhibition, Toronto, CA Palm Beach Art Fair, Sponder Gallery, Palm Beach, FL 2019Art Miami, Sponder Gallery, Miami, FLArt Miami, Galerie de Bellefeuille, Miami, FLScope Miami, Axiom Contemporary, Miami, FLSamuel Owen Gallery, Group Show, Nantucket, MAAAFHK Axiom Contemporary, Hong KongArt NY, Dean Project, New York, NYDallas Art Fair, Beatriz Esguerra Art, Dallas, TXAAFNY, Axiom Contemporary, New York, NYArt on Paper, Sponder Gallery, New York, NYScope New York, Samuel Owen Gallery, New York, NYLA Art Show, Axiom Contemporary, Los Angeles, CAGalerie de Bellefeuille, Photo Exhibition, Toronto, CanadaArden Gallery, Photo Exhibition, Boston, MAPalm Beach Art Fair, Sponder Gallery Palm Beach, FLLA Art Show, Axiom Contemporary, Los Angeles, CA 2018Art Miami, Sponder Gallery, Miami, FLScope Miami, Axiom Contemporary, Miami, FLAAFHK, Axiom Contemporary, Hong KongArt Market San Francisco, Axiom Contemporary, San Francisco, CAArt NY, Sponder Gallery, New York, NYArt NY, Dean Project, Group Show, New York, NYSamuel Owen Gallery, Collective art exhibit Nantucket, MAStricoff Fine Art, Two Men Art Exhibition, Chelsea, NYDallas Art Fair, Beatriz Esguerra Art, Dallas, TXArt on Paper, Sponder Gallery, New York, NYWhistler Contemporary Gallery, Photography Group Show, Vancouver, CanadaSamuel Owen Gallery, Photography Group Show, Greenwich, CTScope New York, Axiom Contemporary, New York, NYArt on Paper, Sponder Gallery, New York, NYPalm Springs Fine Art Fair, Axiom Contemporary, Los Angeles, CA 2017AAFHK, Axiom Contemporary, Hong KongDean Project, The Sultan Gallery, Blue Nights Art Exhibition, KuwaitArt Market San Francisco, Axiom Contemporary, San Francisco, CAArt New York, Beatriz Esguerra Art, New York, NYArt on Paper, Sponder Gallery, New York, NYDallas Art Fair, Beatriz Esguerra Art, Dallas, TXArden Gallery, Photography Exhibition, Boston MAPalm Beach Art Fair, Axiom Contemporary, Palm Beach, FL 2016Scope Miami, Axiom Contemporary, Miami, FLAAF LONDON, Axiom Contemporary, Los Angeles, CATexas Contemporary, Baker Sponder, Miami, FL, USAArt Hamptons, Axiom Contemporary, Los Angeles, CAArt Southampton, Baker Sponder, Miami, FLAAFHK, Axiom Contemporary, Los Angeles, CAArt New York, Beatriz Esguerra Art, New York, NY. Impakto Gallery, Photography Group Show, Lima, Peru.Dina Mitrani Gallery, Photography Group Show, Miami, FLDallas Art Fair, Beatriz Esguerra Arte, Dallas, TXAAFNY, Axiom Contemporary, New York, NY Scope New York, Axiom Contemporary, New York, NYPalm Springs Fine Art Fair, Axiom Contemporary, Los Angeles, CALA Art Show, Axiom Contemporary, Los Angeles, CA 2015Scope Miami, Axiom Contemporary, Miami, FL Context Art Miami, Beatriz Esguerra Art, Baker Sponder, Miami, FLTexas Contemporary, Baker Sponder, Houston, TX, Art Silicon Valley, Axiom Contemporary, San Mateo, CA ARTBO, Beatriz Esguerra Arte, Corferias, Bogotá, ColombiaArt Aspen, Axiom Contemporary, Los Angeles, CAArt Southampton, Baker Sponder, Miami, FL, Art Hamptons, Axiom Contemporary, Los Angeles, CAStricoff Fine Art, Two Men Art Exhibition, Chelsea, NYArt Wynwood, Baker Sponder, Miami, FLArt Wynwood, Beatriz Esguerra Art, Miami, FLPalm Springs Fine Art Fair, Axiom Contemporary, Los Angeles, CABaker Sponder, Art Exhibition, Miami, FL, LA Art Show, Axiom Contemporary, Los Angeles, CA 2014Context Art Miami, Beatriz Esguerra Arte, Miami, FLArt Silicon Valley, Axiom Contemporary, San Mateo, CA Art Aspen, Axiom Contemporary, Aspen, COArt Market San Francisco, Axiom Contemporary, San Francisco, CADallas Art Fair, Beatriz Esguerra Art, Dallas, TXArt Wynwood, Beatriz Esguerra Art, Miami, FL 2013ARTBO, Beatriz Esguerra Art, Corferias, Bogotá, ColombiaArt Southampton, Beatriz Esguerra Art, Southampton, NYArteBA, + De Museo, La Rural, Buenos Aires, Argentina.Art Wynwood, Beatriz Esguerra Art, Miami, FL 2012Feria Odeon, Teatro Odeon, Bogotá, ColombiaARTBO, Beatriz Esguerra Arte, Corferias, Bogotá, ColombiaArte Americas, Beatriz Esguerra Art, Convention Center, Miami, FLMuseo de Arte Moderno, Waves Exhibition, Cartagena, Colombia 2011Feria Odeon, Teatro Odeon, Bogotá, ColombiaMuseo de Arte Moderno, Bookscapes Exhibition, Barranquilla, ColombiaArte Camara - Camara de Comercio, On the Road Series Exhibition, Curated by Paula Silva, Bogotá, ColombiaSala de arte FCI, Galeria La Cometa, Photo5, Bogotá, ColombiaCarla Rey Arte Contemporaneo, Nuevos talentos, Buenos Aires, Argentina 2010Cámara de Comercio de Bogotá, Inter-Independientes, Bogotá,ColombiaMinisterio de Educacion Nacional, Proyecto Aula, Bogotá, ColombiaGaleria La Cometa, Geometria en Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia 2009Hotel Villamagna, Exposition Vardinoyannis, Madrid, Spain Hot Art Fair, Artist Lounge, Basel Foundation Basel, Switzerland Galeria La Cometa, Arte Joven Colsanitas, Bogotá, Colombia 2008Wynwood Arts, Wynwood Art District, Miami, Fla. Museo de Arte Universidad Nacional, Extra Group Show, Bogotá, ColombiaGroup Show, Esto no es una galería, Bogotá, ColombiaGASP Gallery, Dynamics of Belonging, Boston, MA 2006 Arte Consultores-Beatriz Esguerra, Bookscapes, Bogotá, Colombia 2003 Galería La Cometa, Fotología, Bogotá, Colombia