Exhibition of portraiture by the New York photographer in conjunction with the publication of her third and most recent book, On the Street 1980-1990. This work celebrates the artist's fearlessness, insightfulness and affection for the diverse characters populating New York City's streets.
Amy Arbus—On the Street 1980-1990
Stephen Cohen Gallery is pleased to announce a new show, “Amy Arbus—On the Street 1980-1990,” an exhibition of portraiture by the renowned New York photographer Amy Arbus in conjunction with the publication of her third and most recent book, On the Street 1980-1990, a collection of images from her monthly page that appeared in the style section of The Village Voice in the 1980’s. “Amy Arbus—On the Street 1980-1990” will run from March 8 through April 21, 2007. An opening reception for the artist and a book signing will be held March 8, 2007 from 7 to 9 p.m. Serendipitously, the Arbus exhibition will coincide with Los Angeles’ Fashion Week March 18-22, 2007 and a lecture by the artist at the Hammer Museum on April 18, 2007.
Published by Welcome Books in 2006, On the Street 1980-1990 demonstrates Arbus’ artistic expression at its height. The best images from the more than 500 reproduced by The Village Voice can be seen in the Stephen Cohen Gallery exhibit. This work celebrates the photographer’s fearlessness, insightfulness, sense of humor, and palpable affection for the diverse characters that populate New York City’s streets. Her subjects run the gamut between high and low culture; from performance artists, costume, fashion, and interior designers, shop owners, and agents to musicians, make-up artists, graffiti artists, bartenders, publishers, philosophers, journalists, and nightclub strippers. Arbus’ photographs not only capture the inherent theatrical qualities of her subjects, they are a time-capsule, preserving that period of flamboyance and excess that was the ‘80s.
The daughter of photographer Diane Arbus and actor Allan Arbus, Amy Arbus has been photographing professionally for nearly a quarter of a century, establishing and refining her own iconic style. A current contributing photographer to New York Magazine’s theater section, Arbus has seen her photographs printed in more than one hundred periodicals around the world including The New Yorker, Aperture, People, ESPN and The New York Times Magazine. A onetime student of Richard Avedon, Arbus is now a teacher of portraiture at the International Center of Photography, The Fine Arts Work Center and The Toscana Photographic Workshops. She has had fifteen one-woman exhibitions internationally, and her photographs are part of the collection of The Museum of Modern Art in New York.
To complement the Arbus exhibition in the viewing room, the Stephen Cohen Gallery will be pleased to present the works of Tanya Marcuse, a Guggenheim Fellowship-winning artist who recently published a book of photographs entitled Undergarments and Armor (Nazraeli Press). Marcuse traveled to archives and museums throughout the United States and England documenting corsets, helmets, breastplates, bustles, suits of armor, mannequins and other dress forms in a series of sixty-five 4” by 5” platinum prints as a way to explore their meanings as both mass cultural artifacts as well as living, personal reminders of the men and women who once wore them. Works from Undergarments and Armor are in the collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Yale Art Gallery, and The Library of Congress. In addition, the project won a John Anson Kittredge Grant in 2003 and the 2004 JGS Book Project Award.
Press Contact: Jeannine Schechter
Tel: 323.933.3932
E-mail: jeannine@freshpr.net
Opening Reception and Book Signing: Thursday March 8 7-9pm
Stephen Cohen Gallery
7358 Beverly Boulevard - Los Angeles