Exhibitions seen in NYC

REFLECTION:

I.C.P.

MIROSLAV TICHY. This was the first time that I had heard of Tichy, an only recently discovered Czech photographer shooting Kyjov women with his home made cameras (displayed in the exhibition) starting in the 1960s and 1970s. His presence is very much distinctive in that he worked in isolation Kyjov for most of his life. His process makes his presence known to the viewer, much of his work is rough, loosely printed, and very home made. There are stains left on many of the prints, many of the prints have been mounted on home made, cardboard frames, and drawn or painted onto some photographs. Some of his prints appear to be blurred nonsense while others give just enough information to intrigue and provoke the viewers. Much of his work was done in mockery of the widespread servaillance photography by the Czech state at that time.

Some photographs I liked were: a playful image of a woman leaning into a car with her dress clinging to her bottox, some beautiful images of cropped legs, a blurred and cinematic photograph of a mother with her son holding is ruck sack, walking home from school, a photograph of blurred movement with a woman in a white dress against a chair, an image of women walking into the darkness in white nightgowns, his 'Bathers' one where a girl is croaching behind a wire fence, and one light grey image of a girl in the grass.

TWILIGHT VISIONS.Isle Bing, Danseuse-Cancan, Moulin Rouge, Paris, 1931.

MARVELOUS ENCOUNTERS. Included surrealist photographs of Paris. There are some beautiful images including ' Night at Longchamps', 1936 Brassai; a photograph of fireworks and the silhouette of hats; 'Clock of the Academie Francaise', 1932 A. Kertesz, looking over Paris through the clock; and 'Course d'autro', 1923 Man Ray, capturing abstract movements of light. I also noticed the beautiful display of 'Le Cinema Parmount', 1930 by Germaine Kruell, a beautifully printed, tiny image on a huge mounting.

TRANSFORMATION OF MINDS. There are humorous collages by Hugnet juxtaposing female legs from magazines and photographs of Paris. 'Electricity-The City', 1931 by Man Ray captures the Ifle Tower lit up and double exposed with lit writing, there was an imitation of a playing card done with a portrait done by Man Ray along with some sensational portraits by him. There were some interesting small photographs of entertainment and circus characters by Jean Renoir. I also finally got to see the work of Claude Cahun, a self portrait of her performing for the camera and a photograph of a manaquin, who I discovered from my research paper.

AFTER HOURS. There were some interesting miniscule prints by Hans Bellmer entitled 'The Doll' where he disassembled and restructured a maniquin. I also loved Kertresz's photographs of the female nude manipulated by fun-house mirrors, Man Ray's photographs of torsos in his 'Electricity' series, and Joseph Brietenbach's 'Montparnasse', 1935, a grey and red double exposure of the female form and cart wheel.

ALAN B STONE. Small exhibition on the lower floor of ICP. An exhibition of young boys and men. Some nice prints. Particularly liked 'Torso' and 'Boys Playing and Bathing'.