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Photo by Lisa Fox. 2018.
May has been a photographically jam-packed month with the Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival and various other exhibitions opening in the GTA. Here are some of the highlights from the shows I had a chance to see.
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Catalog cover photo by Charlie Engman, Mom Holding Peaches, 2014.
Photo by Lisa Fox
Being: New Photography 2018 will be open until August 19 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The exhibition questions what it means to be human. How are we perceived? How do we perceive others?
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Photo by Kristen Kula
For this Women's History Month post, I'd like to shift the focus towards a new generation of photographic artists
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The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts - Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal is presenting a retrospective on Robert Mapplethorpe's photography and other artistic works. Mapplethorpe was one of the most significant artists of his time. His work has been characterized as controvertial and polarizing. It was seen as particularly challenging when it first came out during the period of conflict between conservatives and reformers in the United States called the Culture Wars in the 1980s and 1990s. This retrospective shows an array of his subjects, including celebrity portraits, male and female nudes, self-portraits, and still-life images of flowers. His highly stylized black and white photographs blurred the lines between life and art. Robert Mapplethorpe Focus: Perfection will be open for visitors until January 22nd.
"He was demonic but not evil, only as demonic as a small deity, mischievous but not without compassion. He was a ray where darkness fell." - Patti Smith describing Robert Mapplethorpe
from Robert Mapplethorpe Focus: Perfection at the MMFA
Robert Mapplethorpe, Untitled (Terry), Dye diffusion transfer print, 1974.
Robert Mapplethorpe, Lisa Lyon, Gelatin silver print, 1980.
Mapplethorpe met Lisa Lyon, a world women's bodybuilding champion, at a party in New York City in 1979. They collaborated as photographer and muse for six years following their encounter and created more than 200 photographs depicting Lyons in various guises, ranging from ingenue to dominatrix.
A selection of works from Robert Mapplethorpe's X Portfolios, 1978.
Mapplethorpe thought of the X, Y, and Z Portfolios as his most important works. X in 1978 explored homosexuality and sado-masochism. Y in 1978 depicted flower still lifes. And, Z in 1981 was a collection of portraits of African-American men. The artist's obsession with formal perfection unified the three collections.
SHE PHOTOGRAPHS
Also, currently showing at the MMFA is and exhibition of thirty Canadian and American women photographers called SHE PHOTOGRAPHS. These photographs encompass a varied array of contemporary photographic styles and genres: Conceptual art, auteur photography, tableau form, intimate impressions, the reinvention of the documentary approach, etc. The pieces span the range from straight photography to abstract and covers subjects such as love, death, work, and the sublime. Styles, techniques, emotion, and meaning may differ, however the commonality of a woman's perspective and voice brings this show its collective artistic strength and impact. It will be on display until February 19.
Raymonde April, Mais qui donc pourrait me faire mal? from the series "Autoportraits avec textes" Gelatin silver print, 1979.
From the SHE PHOTOGRAPHS exhibition at the MMFA
Éliane Excoffier, Kiev (VII), Gelatin silver print, 2008.
Sorel Cohen, from es blessures de l'expérience, 9 chromogenic prints and etched glass, 1995-1996.
Alix Cléo Roubaud, Si quelque chose noir series, 7 gelatin silver prints, 1980.
Maryse Goudreau, Demonstration in Memory of the Wharves (2), Ink-jet print, 2011.
Laura Letinsky, Untitled No. 48 from the series "I did not remember I had forgotten", Chromogenic print, 2002, print 2007.
Marnie Weber, From the series "Graveyard", Collage of magazine illustrations on a color photograph, 2001.