Max Yavno
dal 20/5/2005 al 31/7/2005
Segnalato da
20/5/2005
Max Yavno
Michael Dawson Gallery, Los Angeles
The exhibition drawn from the photographer's archive of vintage images taken by the artist in San Francisco and Los Angeles from the late 1940s through the late 1970s. Long before it was fashionable to focus on the urban centers of California as a subject for fine art photography.
San Francisco and Los Angeles Photographs
Michael Dawson Gallery in association with Jan Kesner is pleased to present
an exhibition of photographs by Max Yavno drawn from the photographer's
archive of vintage images taken in San Francisco and Los Angeles from the
late 1940s through the late 1970s. Long before it was fashionable to focus
on the urban centers of California as a subject for fine art photography,
Yavno explored the people and landscapes of San Francisco and Los Angeles in
a comprehensive and nuanced style. Yavno's earlier work was featured in The
San Francisco Book (1948) and The Los Angeles Book (1950). His later work
was featured in The Photography of Max Yavno (1981).
Living in New York in the late 1930s, Yavno was introduced to photography
through his association with the influential Photo League. League members
were firmly rooted in a social documentary approach to photography; an
approach that strongly influenced the work of Max Yavno. During these years,
Yavno became friends with photographers Cansuelo Kanaga and Aaron Siskind.
From Kanaga, Yavno learned the subtle details of crafting the photographic
print. From Siskind, Yavno learned something of the personal journey of a
life in photography and the inner spirit of the medium itself.
During World War II, Yavno joined the U.S. Air Force and continued to work
in photography. Like many individuals of his generation, he drifted to
California at the end of the war. In 1948 Yavno was awarded a contract from
Houghton Mifflin to produce a photographic book on contemporary San
Francisco. He was awarded the contract over Ansel Adams and Edward Weston.
This publication (and the accompanying book on Los Angeles in 1950) allowed
Yavno to delve deeply into and explore the differences between the two major
urban centers in California. In San Francisco, Yavno explored the physical
beauty of the city along with sensitive portraits of its diverse residents.
In Los Angeles, Yavno explored the eclectic and often bizarre nature of the
city's business and residential architecture. Through his association with
the author and social worker Beatrice Arthur, Yavno was introduced to the
Mexican-American community of Chavez Ravine where he produced a number of
portraits that appeared in his Los Angeles book.
In 1952 Edward Steichen purchased a group of Yavno's photographs for the
Museum of Modern Art in New York. The following year he was awarded a
Guggenheim Fellowship to pursue his photographic work. Yavno became deeply
involved in commercial photography until 1975 when he returned to
photographing the urban environment of Southern California as well as New
York and the Middle East. Max Yavno died in 1985 at the age of seventy-four.
Opening reception: Saturday, May 21st, 2-5 pm
Michael Dawson Gallery
535 North Larchmont Boulevard - Los Angeles