Mae Cornes
Flying High Over Industry
(Photo: Donn Delson in flight)
Donn Delson finds his canvas in the open skies, hovering above sprawling ports where commerce meets geometry. At 76, Delson leans out of doorless helicopters, camera in hand, framing the intricate grids of shipping containers below. His latest solo exhibition, The Space Between, opening February 22 at Axiom Contemporary in Phoenix, is the first of its kind—an exploration of industrial landscapes reimagined as art.
Elevated Perspectives
Xylophones
(credit: Donn Delson)
Delson’s journey into aerial photography began in 2015, sparked by a helicopter flight over New Zealand. The experience changed everything, igniting a passion that now defines his artistic career. Rejecting drones, Delson prefers the visceral experience of flight, where his own movement dictates the composition.
“When I’m flying over the ports, the myriad colors, random patterns, and configurations of the containers below are spectacular,” Delson shares. “Every time I fly, it’s like a new gift, and one that I want to share.”
His work channels the spirit of Mark Rothko, Donald Judd, and Andreas Gursky. Rothko’s expressive color fields find echoes in Delson’s aerial compositions. Judd’s minimalist, industrial structures parallel the precision and repetition in Delson’s container arrangements. Gursky’s vast photographic studies of globalization share a conceptual thread, transforming commercial landscapes into high art.
In Xylophones, rows of vividly colored containers resemble the bars of a musical instrument, their rhythm disrupted by a single white truck—a moment of chance that challenges perceptions. This interplay between structure and spontaneity mirrors Rothko’s layered compositions, where one unexpected element can shift an entire visual experience.
Delson’s Roth & Co series (Nos. 1-21) extends this dialogue, paying photographic homage to Rothko’s philosophy of color and mood.
Patterns in Commerce
Sliding Tiles
(credit: Donn Delson)
Ports are built for efficiency, not aesthetics—but Delson finds beauty in their rigidity. His compositions echo Judd’s structured repetition, where industrial elements become sculptural, and Gursky’s expansive urban landscapes, where order and chaos coexist in a single frame.
Stacked containers form grids of color that, when viewed from above, take on a painterly quality. In Sliding Tiles, deep blues and faded hues interact like color-blocked canvases, dissolving the line between photography and pure abstraction.
Delson’s large-scale prints (up to eight feet wide) intensify this transformation. The sheer size allows viewers to immerse themselves, shifting their perspective between macro patterns and micro details. By reframing the mundane structures of global trade, Delson challenges assumptions, proving that the industrial can also be poetic.
A Career of Reinvention
Strength in Stripes
(credit: Donn Delson)
Delson isn’t just a career artist—he’s a serial innovator. Before dedicating himself to photography, he founded BandMerch, an LA-based entertainment merchandising company representing Rihanna, Linkin Park, and other global artists. His shift to fine art in 2010 was not a retirement—it was a reinvention.
His approach to aerial photography is both methodical and instinctual. He spends hours in the air, studying how light and shadow interact with industrial forms. This dedication to capturing the perfect moment results in works that blur the line between documentation and abstraction.
Challenging Perceptions
One by One
(credit: Donn Delson)
At its core, The Space Between is about seeing differently. Delson invites viewers to find beauty in places they’d never expect, transforming utilitarian objects into works of contemplation.
His images are not just about trade, logistics, or industry. They are about color and space, repetition and disruption, movement and stillness.
In One by One, two stacked pink containers sit against a dark void, a stark yet electric contrast. At first glance, it could be a minimalist painting—but it’s real, part of a vast industrial complex, hidden in plain sight.
“I want people to linger, to reconsider what they think they’re seeing,” Delson reflects.
Revealing the Unseen
In a world where details are often overlooked, Delson’s photography urges us to pause, look closer, and rethink what’s around us. His work sits at the intersection of abstract expressionism, industrial minimalism, and contemporary photography, proving that even the most functional spaces can be transformed into something poetic.
For those willing to look beyond the surface, The Space Between is more than an exhibition—it’s a shift in perspective—an invitation to see the extraordinary hidden within the ordinary.
The show runs from February 22 to March 15 at Axiom Contemporary in Phoenix. Expect to walk away seeing the world just a little differently.