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28/1/2004

Street Credibility

MOCA at the Geffen Contemporary, Los Angeles

Street Credibility: Photographs from the 1940s to the 1970s

Featuring photographs by Diane Arbus, her peers, and the artists who were inspired by her vision, Street Credibility examines the period of contemporary photography when the boundary between reality and what was artificially created became increasingly blurred. The exhibition draws primarily from the permanent collection of The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) with a selection of works from local institutions and artists. Street Credibility opens at MOCA at The Geffen Contemporary (152 North Central Avenue in downtown Los Angeles) on January 25, 2004 and remains on view through June 7, 2004.

Organized by guest curator and artist Mike Kelley and coordinated by MOCA Curatorial Associate Rebecca Morse, the exhibition includes over 200 photographs from the 1940s to 1970s that capture the transition to post-documentary photography. Included are works by Larry Clark, Robert Frank, Lee Friedlander, Charles Gatewood, Les Krims, Danny Lyon, Sally Mann, Bill Owens, Jeffrey Silverthorne, and Garry Winogrand, as well as a selection of work by Arbus's predecessors, including Lisette Model, August Sander, and Weegee.

Blending the look of rapid-pace street photography with the deliberation of studio posing, Arbus was part of a generation of artists who changed the nature of documentary photography. They were influenced by the news photographers of their day, captivated by street life and subcultures, and committed to capturing the real, yet they created pictures so intensely constructed they feel staged.

Focusing on the similarity of this generation's subjects and approaches, Kelley organized the exhibition around visual tropes, such as people inside their homes, the equation of individuals with their possessions, couples, entertainers, and spectacles. Photographs by commercial photographer Theo Ehret are also included to draw attention to the staged-looking quality of many of this generation's photographs. Ehret was house photographer for the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles and documented professional wrestling, in addition to photographing erotic female ''apartment wrestling'' staged in domestic sets constructed in his studio.

Los Angeles-based artist Kelley is best known for his sculptural works with craft materials and stuffed animals in the 1980s, his diverse practice includes performance, video, installation, painting, and more recently, architecturally scaled sculpture. Kelley is a member of the graduate faculty at Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, and in 2001, he collaborated with artist Cameron Jamie to edit a monograph of Ehret's work for Taschen books.

Image: Diane Arbus, two ladies

Museum of Contemporary Art MOCA
AT THE GEFFEN CONTEMPORARY
152 North Central Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90013

NEW Hours: BEGINNING SEPTEMBER 7, 2003
Monday, Friday
11am–5pm
Thursday
11am–8pm - FREE
Saturday, Sunday
11am–6pm
Closed Tuesdays, Wednesdays, New Year's Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

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