MIAMI, FLA.- The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), North Miami is showcasing “How to Unlock a Portal” by Swedish artist Jacob Felländer. Felländer is internationally recognized for his collections of large scale manipulated photographs of cityscapes. This is his first solo exhibition and debut in the U.S. The exhibition runs from December 7, 2017 – February 11, 2018.

This groundbreaking exhibition challenges the definition of photography and contemplates the effect of time, space, perspective and depth. In chronological order, the pieces represent Felländer’s creative journey over the past 15 years. With art methods ranging from charcoal to virtual reality technology, Felländer captures not one frozen moment in time, but rather several moments expanded in time and space. Traveling through a fusion of photography, painting, sculpture and virtual reality, the exhibition presents analogue images taken with a 100-year-old camera.

The exhibition includes multi-exposed analogue prints; mixed media prints, oil pastels and charcoal on pigment prints; projected video, 3D printed sculpture, virtual reality, and prints from the virtual reality world. In his images of cities and landscapes, Felländer captures a span of time in one frame, giving the viewer the impression of seeing space and time skipping intermittently, allowing many perspectives at once.

In his work, Felländer asks the questions: “How does the presence of a parallel digital dimension affect our lives?” “What happens when we bring objects and images from the virtual world out to the physical world?” In the piece “One World, One Negative” Felländer traveled one lap around the world to capture the world in one image.

“The Brave Frontier” explores the fragility of embarking on new worlds. For two minutes and 21 seconds, the viewer is taken on a journey inside the artwork, made possible by virtual reality goggles. The artwork enters a new dimension, as the virtual universe opens up and new artistic possibilities arise. Felländer takes the process a step further and creates portal prints – images taken inside this virtual landscape and then brought back into the real world. Coming full circle, the portal print is then brought to life with a 3D printer resulting in a sculptural piece that accompanies the canvas print.

Felländer’s work is featured in the collections of former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Swedish royal family, the Persson Family (H&M), and several celebrity athletes. His work has been exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions progressively around the world, including Hamiltons Gallery, London; Camera Work, Berlin; Grand Palais, Paris; and Fotografiska, Stockholm.

“We are very pleased to have secured “How to Unlock a Portal” by Jacob Felländer for his U.S. debut,” says Natasha Colebrook-Williams, MOCA’s Interim Director. “The artist uses traditional conventions as a springboard to explode and expand the concept of image-making. At MOCA, we are proud to embrace international artists such as Felländer, and allow our audiences to enjoy their works.”