Edwynn Houk Gallery presents About Time, an exhibition exploring the creative ways the concept of time, or the times, is interwoven into pictures. Spanning 90 years of creation, works by 17 artists — including Diane Arbus, Dorothea Lange, Vera Lutter, Sally Mann, Abelardo Morell, Robert Polidori, and Matthew Pillsbury, amongst others — will be on view from February 15 to March 30, 2024.
This exhibition engages in the concept of time through a wide lens. It features works that reflect on the passage of time straightforwardly, such as Dorothea Lange’s contemplative photograph of an anonymous gravestone, its dedication erased through the slow wear of the elements. Others renegotiate the traditional narrative of linear passage, pointing to photography’s ability to “turn the dial” of human vision. Vik Muniz’s interpretation of Harold Edgerton’s “Milk Drop Coronet Splash” (1997) and Matthew Pillsbury’s xray-like vision of Grand Central during “12 Minutes at Rush Hour” (2008) show that manipulations in shutter-speed can reveal unseen realities.
The show also includes photographs that engage in the word’s idiomatic uses. Diane Arbus’ photograph of “A Castle at Disneyland” (1962) recasts the opening lines “once upon a time,” and Robert Polidori’s architectural portrait (2007) of a storage room in The Palace of Versailles, housing the toppled painting of King Louis XVI, insinuates the modern French regime’s drive to “change with the times.” A shared visual language, in the motif of clocks, also appears through the connections made in this show: both Ilse Bing's surreal vision of analog faces floating in Paris' night sky (1934) and Vera Lutter's camera-obscura view of New York City through Dumbo's clocktower penthouse (2011) explore urban living through the framework of time.
Artists included in this exhibition are Diane Arbus, Ilse Bing, Sebastiaan Bremer, Lee Friedlander, Dorothea Lange, Vera Lutter, David Maisel, Sally Mann, Chris McCaw, Abelardo Morell, Vik Muniz, Matthew Pillsbury, Robert Polidori, Herb Ritts, Alison Rossiter, Stephen Shore, and Massimo Vitali.
