Tag: black and white

Jay DeFeo at Paula Cooper Gallery

After completing her iconic 2,000+ lb painting ‘The Rose,’ in 1966, Bay Area artist Jay DeFeo delved into photography, creating the 70 photographs, collages and photocopies now on view at Paula Cooper Gallery in Chelsea.  Like ‘The Rose,’ DeFeo’s photographs feature complex textures, moody tonal contrasts and nature-related imagery in straight shots of mushrooms on a fallen tree or chemigrams – abstract images created in the darkroom.  Among the representational works, a single resting hand seen from the side or a section of an illuminated lampshade pictured from below against a black background convey stillness while this powerful shot of rushing water embodies nature’s dynamism and power.  (On view in Chelsea through Oct 28th).

Jay DeFeo, Untitled, gelatin silver print, 6 x 8 7/8 inches, 1973.

Lee Friedlander at Luhring Augustine Gallery

From Boston to San Diego, Lee Friedlander’s black and white photos of urban landscapes turn mundane street scenes into extraordinary coincidences of arranged forms.  In Friedlander’s hands, any vertical object in the environment can bisect a scene into separate vignettes – people standing on the sidewalk as seen through car windows seem to occupy their own separate worlds while on this highway overpass in Dallas, a guardrail divides one location into two radically different places.  45 photos from Friedlander’s 60+ year career selected by filmmaker Joel Coen, now on view at Luhring Augustine Gallery, demonstrate Friedlander’s impressive ability to reframe our view of the world.  (On view through July 28th).

Lee Friedlander, Dallas, gelatin silver print, image 8 ½ x 12 ¾ inches, 1977, printed 2023.

RongRong and inri at Chambers Fine Art

To make work for the 2012 Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennial, photographers RongRong and inri packed up their family and moved from Beijing to rural Japan, creating timeless, ethereal black and white scenes shot in a 200-year-old house. (At Chambers Fine Art in Chelsea through Aug 20th).

RongRong and inri, Tsumari Story No 11-4, silver gelatin print, 46 ¾ x 58 ¼ inches, 2014.
RongRong and inri, Tsumari Story No 11-4, silver gelatin print, 46 ¾ x 58 ¼ inches, 2014.

Tiny: Streetwise Revisited at Aperture Foundation

Aperture’s exhibition ‘Tiny: Streetwise Revisited’ is a fascinating glimpse into the life of Tiny, the petite Seattle teen memorably photographed in 1983 by Mary Ellen Mark for Life magazine and filmed by her filmmaker husband Martin Bell for his 1984 documentary Streetwise. As a young woman in this photo, she dreams of having riches and a family of 10 kids. In the exhibition, Mark follows Tiny as she fulfills her second wish as poverty and addiction define her life. (In Chelsea through June 30th).

Installation view of ‘Tiny: Streetwise Revisited’ at Aperture Foundation, June 2016.
Installation view of ‘Tiny: Streetwise Revisited’ at Aperture Foundation, June 2016.

Malick Sidibe at Jack Shainman Gallery

Iconic photographer Malick Sidibe – who will be 80 this year – pulls out more joie de vivre from his famous archives of Malian night-life with images shot at parties over the decades. Here, three young men dressed as secret agents let us in on the fun of their masquerade. (At Chelsea’s Jack Shainman Gallery through April 23rd).

Malick Sidibe, Les faux agents, silver gelatin print, 14 1/8 x 9 5/8 inches, 1973-2008.
Malick Sidibe, Les faux agents, silver gelatin print, 14 1/8 x 9 5/8 inches, 1973-2008.