Thursday, August 28, 2008

Layers to Comment on Layers of Imagery


By KAREN ROSENBERG @ New York Times

As it sifts through the riches of the extraordinary Gilman Collection of photographs, acquired three years ago, the Met is slowly bringing its holdings of contemporary photography up to speed. In the fall the museum dedicated a new gallery, the Joyce and Robert Menschel Hall, to the exhibition of post-1960 photography.

“Photography on Photography: Reflections on the Medium Since 1960” is the second installation in this space. It is better than the first, largely because of its variety of works (by artists male and female, young and old, American and European, famous and fledgling). Thomas Ruff and Hiroshi Sugimoto are here, but so are Janice Guy, an artist turned dealer who is benefiting from a sudden interest in her early self-portraits, and Mark Wyse, a young photographer who is also active as a curator. The 21-artist mix isn’t perfect, but the curator, Doug Eklund, deserves credit for taking a few risks.

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