Isaac “Drift” Wright Makes Las Vegas Debut Exhibit At Fas44 Art Salon

By Debbie Hall

Isaac “Drift” Wright

FAS44 (Freyboy Art Salon) is welcoming renowned photographer and multidisciplinary artist Isaac “Drift” Wright for his first Las Vegas exhibition, Coming Home, on view now through Saturday, Oct. 25. Known worldwide for vertigo-inducing images captured from some of the planet’s most iconic structures, Issac turns his lens toward the soul of place—this time, introducing that perspective to the heart of the Las Vegas arts community.

“What inspires me? Many things inspire me—life, first and foremost. Everywhere I'm at, I think I find something to be inspired by. But what inspired this work was an outward search for what freedom could mean to me. It was an outward search that led me inward in a lot of ways,” said Isaac.

Coming Home, presented in collaboration with Robert Mann Gallery (New York City), showcases 16 large-scale photographic prints made from extraordinary vantage points—among them the Golden Gate Bridge, Empire State Building, and Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro. Each work is available for acquisition, offering collectors a chance to own a piece of Issac’s visceral meditation on height, risk, and the razor’s edge between fear and transcendence. Issac’s acclaimed coffee-table volume, It Was Never Dark, will also be available onsite.

Photos by Bensahagun Photography

“These pictures are just an embodiment of that search for what I was looking for on this journey. I say 'looking' because I don't feel like I'm looking for it anymore; I feel like I'm really embodying it now. But this was kind of my teacher in what freedom means to me. What does it look like? How do I choose it for myself?”

Issac’s ascent to international recognition has been anything but conventional. A United States Army veteran, he found purpose in urban exploration and photography—work that helped him process PTSD and bipolar disorder by forcing absolute presence in the moment. His story recently drew national attention in a New York Times profile by Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist David Philipps, “He Spent Decades Behind Bars for His Art: Now, He Has a Show in N.Y.C.,” which traces Issac’s path from military service to incarceration to becoming one of today’s most daring image-makers.

The pictures in Coming Home distill that journey: serene skies meet steel and stone; cities unfurl like living circuits beneath a single figure perched on the threshold of the impossible. The work reads as both documentary and dream state, a record of real rooftops and real risk that doubles as a metaphor for survival.

“On Steinway Tower, and it was an evening where low clouds swept the city, and then we stayed up there at night, so I took a photo of my friend who's in the corner of the frame, and just got him above the clouds that night,” explains Issac, who admits never wearing a harness.

Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, Issac moved to Jersey City in 2023 and then moved to Brooklyn earlier this year.

As part of the exhibition’s limited engagement, Issac will donate one original work for a raffle, with 100 percent of ticket proceeds benefiting the Public Education Foundation. In addition, a portion of proceeds from book sales during the run will support the organization—extending the show’s spirit of renewal into the community.

Rooted in the centuries-old spirit of the art salon, FAS44 is the newest curated space from art lover and collector Michael Frey, whose three decades of projects—from destination restaurants to refined cigar lounges—have centered on art as a full-sensory experience. At FAS44, the goal is conversation as much as curation: a place where audiences can challenge expectations, engage directly with artists, and help shape the city’s evolving cultural voice. Each featured exhibition is crafted to elevate Las Vegas’s aesthetic landscape while inviting patrons into the exchange of ideas.

The exhibition is more than a survey of gravity-defying views—it’s a testament to what art can wrestle from adversity. In Wright’s images, the city is both obstacle and oracle, daring us to look down, look out, and—most importantly—look within.

Coming Home by Isaac “Drift” Wright will be exhibited at FAS44 Freyboy Art Salon, 4044 Dean Martin Drive, by appointment; call 702.735.8322. Admission is free and open to the public—exhibit information on Coming Home, gallery hours, and future events is available at fas44.com. For more information about Issac, visit driftershoots.com