Tag: photography

Kathrin Linkersdorff at Yossi Milo Gallery

German artist Kathrin Linkersdorff’s ‘Fairies,’ a series of vividly colored yet ethereal photographs of flowers now on view at Chelsea’s Yossi Milo Gallery, takes up the age-old concept of memento mori – a reminder of life’s brevity – with contemporary imagery of flowers.  While spending time working in Japan as an architect, Linkersdorff embraced her host country’s reverence for nature as well as the concept of wabi-sabi, or acceptance of imperfection and impermanence.  With both philosophies in mind, Linkersdorff dries flowers over long periods of time, extracting their pigment and reintroducing it into a liquid medium in which the flowers are suspended.  Resulting images like this one emphasize the delicacy and structure of the plants.  Pictured as if the pigments had suddenly dropped away from the petals, the artist suggests a magical deviation from expectation.  (On view through Oct 21st).

Kathrin Linkersdorff, Fairies, VI/3, archival pigment print on Hahnemuehle photo rag ultra smooth, 2021.

Heji Shin at 52 Walker

Fashion and art photographer Heji Shin’s self-portrait at 52 Walker gives and withholds information, depicting a holographic image of her brain made with a special MRI technique that pictures neural networks in brilliant color.  Though the scans allow us to literally see her brain, more telling about Shin’s thoughts are her studio photos of pigs – their faces full of character – that appear on the surrounding walls. Titled ‘Big Nudes’ after Helmut Newton’s boldly-posed 1981 images of nude women, the images question how both photos and their subjects are consumed. (On view in Tribeca through Oct 7th).

Heji Shin, Untitled, holographic installation; glass, pedestal, and four flat screen TVs, 66 x 68 1/8 x 58 ¼ in, 2023.

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.

Ruby Rumie at Nohra Haime Gallery

Inspired by a mid-19th century geographical survey that attempted to catalogue the inhabitants, economies and landscapes of Colombia, Cartagena-based artist Ruby Rumie’s latest photography series at Nohra Haime Gallery in Chelsea celebrates the diversity and beauty of her fellow citizens.  Crowned by peppers or wreathed in abundant clusters of fruit, project participants pose with their favorite foods, suggesting that our personal likes and preferences are an aspect of both individual and shared identity.  (On view through July 16th).

Ruby Rumie, installation view of ‘Us, 172 Years Later’ at Nohra Haime Gallery, Chelsea, June ’23.

‘Avedon 100’ at Gagosian Gallery

Enter Gagosian Gallery and you’ll immediately see Marilyn Monroe striking flirtatious poses in 1957, to the right is a joyous full-length portrait of Tina Turner and further back, a cast of characters from Andy Warhol’s Factory exudes downtown chic, even in the nude.  The gallery’s museum-quality celebration of iconic photographer Richard Avedon’s 100 birthday includes some of the most recognized subjects and photographs of the 2nd half of the 20th century, a time when Avedon shot for Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue and the New Yorker while also completing his own projects. The beautifully staged exhibition offers sightlines that take visitors from oil field workers in Oklahoma to a fashion shoot narrative (right and left in this image) to Dovima, posing with elephants in a Paris circus in 1955. (On view through July 7th).

Richard Avedon, installation view of ‘Avedon 100’ at Gagosian Gallery, May 2022.