Tag: documentary

Kyle Meyer at Yossi Milo Gallery

Kyle Meyer’s photodocumentary work with eSwatini’s (formerly Swaziland’s) HIV positive populations parallels a stunningly beautiful personal project shot with members of the country’s gay community and now on view at Chelsea’s Yossi Milo Gallery. After photographing men wrapped in scarves made of vibrant fabrics (chosen together at market), Meyer hand sliced the scarf fabric, weaving it into a photo that both protects the sitter’s identity while declaring his existence.  (On view through Dec 8th).

Kyle Meyer, Unidentified 121, archival pigment print hand woven with wax print fabric, approx. 67 x 44 inches, unique, 2018.

Tomas Van Houtryve at Anastasia Photo

Paris-based Belgian photographer Tomas Van Houtryve captured this eerie scene – dominated by long human shadows and strange white grids – by flying a drone over a school in California as kids played below. Bold geometries and stark tonal contrasts make each picture look strange, playing to Van Houtryve’s point that drones are increasingly prevalent, yet we see little of them and what they see. (At Anastasia Photo on the Lower East Side through Dec 31st).

Tomas Van Houtryve, Schoolyard, gelatin silver print on Baryta paper, 26 x 40 inches, 2013.
Tomas Van Houtryve, Schoolyard, gelatin silver print on Baryta paper, 26 x 40 inches, 2013.

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.

Alfredo Jaar at Galerie Lelong

Calling it ‘the strongest expression of grief he has ever seen,’ Alfredo Jaar is showcasing an image by the late Dutch photojournalist Koen Wessing as part of his latest NY solo show. Wessing’s image depicts the reaction of two Nicaraguan women to news that their father has been killed in the revolution in 1978. Gradually, their images disappear in an increasingly bright blast of light, often used by Jaar as a metaphor for blindness. (At Galerie Lelong through March 28th).

Alfredo Jaar, Shadows, installation with LED lights, aluminum, video projection and six lightboxes with black and white transparencies, 2014.

Sebastiao Salgado at Yancey Richardson Gallery

Ocean waves smoothed the base of this iceberg while wind erosion and detached ice carved the top into this majestic, castle-like form. It’s one of the many stunning images from Sebastiao Salgado’s latest ‘Genesis’ series – for which the artist travelled the world photographing landscapes untouched by modernization – currently on view at Chelsea’s Yancey Richardson Gallery. (Through Jan 24th).

Sebastiao Salgado, Fortress of Solitude, Antarctica, 24 x 25 inches, gelatin silver print, 2005.