Tag: photograph

Irving Penn at Pace Gallery

Irving Penn coined the term ‘Photographism’ to describe his style, a synthesis of graphic design and fine art, but the impact of his images goes beyond words.  Isolated against a white background that emphasizes strong tonal contrast and boldly outlined form, this 1971 photograph at Pace Gallery lends these two buds a hyperreality and heightened beauty.  (On view in Chelsea through Feb 13th).


Irving Penn, Imperial Pink Bud (top), Imperial Gold Bud (bottom), New York, pigment print mounted to board, 16 7/8 x 21 ¾ inches (image, paper and mount), 1971.

Lyle Ashton Harris at Salon94

Lyle Ashton Harris’ new photographic self-portraits continue to posit ambiguous identities while forcing the question of what might be ‘natural’ as he dons masks collected by his uncle in East Africa while posing nude in various outdoor locations in New York and New England.  Here, a tenuously held, chipped colored sheet obscures Harris’ face and upper torso, masking his identity as he stands in front of an anonymous shingled façade.  Africa, art, ritual, the male nude, New England architecture and other references conjoin and collide in one provocative image.  (On view at Salon94 through Dec 21st).

Lyle Ashton Harris, Zamble at Land’s End #2, dye sublimation print on aluminum, 48 x 32 inches, 2018.

JR at Galerie Perrotin

French street artist JR is back in town this summer with a show of photography, sculpture and installation that continues his outspoken advocacy for vulnerable populations. In this aerial overview, we see the eyes of Mayra, an undocumented immigrant who arrived in California as a child.  Used as backdrop for a picnic on both sides of the US/Mexican border, the image counters division with unity.  (On view at Galerie Perrotin on the Lower East side through August 17th).

JR, Migrants, Mayra, Picnic across the border, Quadrichromie, Tecate, Mexico – USA, 4-color print on paper, mounted on cotton canvas, wooden frame, ½ offset printing plate, h 92 1/8 x l. 186 5/8 inches, 2018.

Luca Campigotto at Laurence Miller Gallery

Italian photographer Luca Campigotto’s cityscapes are bold and bright, though they’re shot after dark. Humans don’t feature much in the images yet our presence is felt through ubiquitous lights left on for safety, decoration, advertising and nighttime living. Here, Hong Kong glows with the intensity of over seven million lives being led and lit below. (On view at Laurence Miller Gallery through Feb 24th).

Luca Campigotto, Hong Kong, 55 x 73 ¾ inches, pure pigment print, 2016.

Thomas Struth at Marian Goodman Gallery

Astronauts simulate working in the weightlessness of space in Houston’s Johnson Space Center, where they perform tasks on models in a giant pool; captured by German photographer Thomas Struth, the lab appears to be suspended in space and time, submerged as if in jelly or under glass. (At Marian Goodman Gallery on 57th Street through Dec 22nd).

Thomas Struth, Full-scale Mock-up 1, JSC, Houston, inkjet print, image: 60 7/8 x 110 ¼ inches, 2017.