Performatively biting a bleached skull. Carolee Schneemann (from 1963) at PPOW.
Marking the poverty line with tomatoes. Chow and Lin (from 2010-2020) in room 216 of MoMA’s permanent collection galleries. Further information on the project/photobook can be found here.
Reinterpreting family photographs with projected distortion. Darrel Ellis (from 1990) in room 209 of MoMA’s permanent collection galleries.
Cropped images from vernacular photographs, isolating the possible meanings of a gesture. Lorna Simpson (from 1996) in room 208 of MoMA’s permanent collection galleries.
Layered geometries in dark and light, sewn together by electrical wires. Thomas Struth (from 1986) in room 203 of MoMA’s permanent collection galleries.
A mother/daughter double portrait, linked by strings of African beads. María Magdalena Campos-Pons (from 2001) at the Brooklyn Museum.
Using crumpled paper to create a starburst of flares and shadows. Sheila Pinkel (from 1974-1982) in the third floor lobby at MoMA.
Hanging leashes in an Amsterdam window display. Ed Ruscha (from 1961) at MoMA.
Tucking an imprisoned portrait in a wide swath of black suede. Sable Elyse Smith (from 2020) in the Going Dark: The Contemporary Figure at the Edge of Visibility group show at the Guggenheim.
A retroreflective pledge of allegiance. Hank Willis Thomas (from 2018) in the Going Dark: The Contemporary Figure at the Edge of Visibility group show at the Guggenheim.
Twisted, obscured, and revealed in layers of camouflage. Joiri Minaya (from 2020) in the Going Dark: The Contemporary Figure at the Edge of Visibility group show at the Guggenheim.
Eyes, fingers, and the mystery of leopard print. Farah Al Qasimi (from 2019) in the Going Dark: The Contemporary Figure at the Edge of Visibility group show at the Guggenheim.
Tactile surfaces and signifiers seen from the back. Lyle Ashton Harris (from 2000) in the Going Dark: The Contemporary Figure at the Edge of Visibility group show at the Guggenheim.
Turning away from the layered doubling of race and gender. Lorna Simpson (from 1990-1992) in the Going Dark: The Contemporary Figure at the Edge of Visibility group show at the Guggenheim.
Erased by Photoshop’s checkered transparency filter. Stephanie Syjuco (from 2017) in the Going Dark: The Contemporary Figure at the Edge of Visibility group show at the Guggenheim.
The obscuring anonymity of a red hoodie. John Edmonds (from 2016) in the Going Dark: The Contemporary Figure at the Edge of Visibility group show at the Guggenheim.
Split second multiple exposures capturing the swirling movement of a fencer’s blade. Georges Demeny (from 1906) in the second floor hallway at the Met.
A twisting geometric montage, featuring a slice of voyeuristic watching. Maurice Tabard (from 1929) in the second floor hallway at the Met.
Echoes of circles and rectangles, drifting into shadow. František Drtikol (from 1927) in the second floor hallway at the Met.
Hanging backyard laundry flattened into angled lines and light/dark contrasts. Paul Strand (from 1917) in the second floor hallway at the Met.
Daybook
Daybook is an ongoing visual diary made entirely of notable photographs, a cascade of images seen here and there and deserving of further attention.