A DEMOCRACY OF IMAGERY
2016-03-14New York – A Democracy of Imagery, an exhibition of work by 84 photographers from the 1860s through 2002, is curated by Colin Westerbeck, the exhibition presents 100 images by artists including Richard Avedon, Edward Burtynsky, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Walker Evans, Robert Frank, Saul Leiter, Vivian Maier, Man Ray, Robert Mapplethorpe, Joel Meyerowitz, and Gordon Parks.
A Democracy of Imagery includes historical images both enchanting and ominous. The book’s cover image, an anonymous photograph from the mid-1880s, shows the Statue of Liberty under construction in France, before it was disassembled and shipped to New York for installation in the harbor on Liberty Island. Another photograph from 1938 by Margaret Bourke-White depicts thousands of smiling Czechs giving the “Heil Hitler” salute in response to a speech by the Czech Nazi leader Konrad Henlein.
A number of portraits of famous artists and writers provide highlights in the exhibition. Saul Leiter’s 1950s photograph of a young Andy Warhol shows the artist reviewing images when he was known as an illustrator. Allen Ginsberg’s 1989 photograph of David Hockney and William S. Burroughs reveals two well-dressed gentlemen with their hats on a table facing away from each other. Hockney has the corner of his month upturned and Burroughs has a slight frown, as if they’re ying and yang, reciprocal spirts of bemusement and disapproval.
Opposite – Anonymous, Untitled (Statue of Liberty), c. 1886
Exhibition runs through till April 30th, 2016
Howard Greenberg Gallery
41 East 57th Street
Suite 1406
New York
NY 10022
