Everyday Epiphanies: Photography and Daily Life Since 1969 @Met

JTF (just the facts): A group show containing the work of 31 artists/photographers, variously framed and matted, and hung against white walls in a large single room gallery space on the second floor of the museum. The space has been divided into a main viewing area and a smaller darkened space at the very end of the gallery. (Installation shots at right.)

The following photographers have been included in the exhibit, with information on the number of prints on view and other background details to follow:

John Baldessari: 1 gelatin silver print, 1971
Erica Baum: 1 inkjet print, 2009
Jean-Marc Bustamante: 1 chromogenic print, 1997
Sophie Calle: 1 gelatin silver print with accompanying text, 1988-1989
Gregory Crewdson: 1 chromogenic print, 1988
Philip-Lorca diCorcia: 1 chromogenic print, 1987
William Eggleston: 1 dye transfer print, 1980
Fischli & Weiss: 1 chromogenic print, 1979
Robert Gober: 1 gelatin silver print, 1999
Nan Goldin: 1 silver dye bleach print, 1980
Dan Graham: 1 silver dye bleach print, 1969
Jan Groover: 1 platinum print, 1980
Mike Kelley: 1 gelatin silver print, 1994
Igor and Svetlana Kopystiansky: 1 single channel video, 1996-1997
Brandon Lattu: 1 single channel video, 2013
Nikki S. Lee: 1 chromogenic print, 1998
Sally Mann: 1 gelatin silver print, 1987
Malerie Marder: 1 inkjet print, 1998/2013
Tim Maul: 1 chromogenic print, 1981
Elizabeth McAlpine: 1 gelatin silver print, 2012
Mary Nickerson: 3 chromogenic prints, 1970
Gabriel Orozco: 12 silver dye bleach prints, 1991-2003
Martha Rosler: 1 single channel black and white video, 1975
David Salle: 4 gelatin silver prints with affixed advertisements, 1973
Ilene Segalove: 1 single channel black and white and color video, 1974-1978
Stephen Shore: 36 chromogenic prints, 1972-1973 (in case)
Larry Sultan: 1 chromogenic print, 1989
Carrie Mae Weems: 1 gelatin silver print, 1990
William Wegman: 1 gelatin silver print, 1972

Comments/Context: With the unspoken rules that exhibitions in the Met's contemporary photography gallery must be drawn exclusively from the museum's permanent collection and be organized as surveys of the period from the late 1960s to the present, it's no wonder that these long running shows are often so broad that their themes seem to dissolve into edited collections of everything. The newest selection of images is tied up under the umbrella of "everyday epiphanies", a construct that implies a delight in the ordinary, the quotidian, or the familiar, but in fact, reaches outward beyond these routine boundaries to works that have a wide variety of conceptual underpinnings and points of view. With some effort, it's possible to follow the logic of why each piece has been included here, but when seen together, the diversity of the works on view diminishes the show's ability to deliver any durable insights.

The works that function best inside this theme are those that capture moments of unexpected, elemental elegance, often as a result of the way the camera sees the world. Jan Groover turns a tangle of kids' bent arms into a lyrical overlapped abstraction, while Mike Kelley enlarges a dust mote to the point it becomes a swirling mass of lines. Larry Sultan catches the sun as it streams through his father's newspaper, and Gabriel Orzoco notices the back and forth sweep of a dog's tail. The video by Igor and Svetlana Kopystiansky is perhaps the most graceful of them all, following the tumbling dance of windblown trash on city sidewalks, with the honking traffic as a background score. Why obvious inclusions like Kawauchi, Tillmans, Friedlander, Ghirri, and Parr aren't among these moments of discovered joy is a mystery.

The "epiphany" angle is instead taken in a different direction by works that play with conceptual inversion, where the startling realization is staged rather than found. In fact, the entire genre of Conceptual Photography, especially as practiced in the early 1970s, could fit under this definition, so the few works on view here, while excellent, seem a bit random when taken in the larger context of that period. That said, William Wegman's pairing of a sharp and dull knife (where the dull knife is not sharp in terms of its edge and the image itself is blurry) is infectiously witty and Martha Rosler's video demonstration of kitchen items is uproariously violent (who knew opening a can or using measuring spoons could be so passionate?) Robert Gober picks up a similar line of deviant thinking in the late 1990s, with his industrial drain unexpectedly inserted into the natural environment of a mossy forest floor.

The show includes only three works made in the last decade, which is surprising, since we might have assumed that lots of fanciful digital "epiphanies" would have emerged during that time. Erica Baum's dog eared book pages are a solid choice, with their chance juxtapositions of angled sentence fragments. Elizabeth McAlpine's work was new discovery for me, her ethereal shaped photograph a result of a complex molded camera construction and multiple pinhole openings. Brandon Lattu's video explores the unexpected connections made by computer intelligence, where face recognition software attempts to match images from popular culture and advertising, creating a mesmerizing sequence of similar morphing faces.

Like most of its predecessors, this show brings together plenty of intriguing and worthy photography, but ultimately the whole is much less than the sum of its parts. We're left remembering a highlight here or a highlight there, and losing sight of the overarching idea that ostensibly connected the dots. I'm grateful that the Met has a dedicated venue for contemporary photography, and these surveys certainly expose visitors to a consistently wide rage of work. But I am always left wanting something crisper and more tightly edited, a show that takes a stand of some kind rather than always trying to cover everything.

Collector's POV: Since this is a museum show, there are obviously no posted prices for the works on display. Given the diversity of photography on view, we'll dispense with the usual discussion of secondary market prices and artist representation.

Rating: * (one star) GOOD (rating system described here)

Transit Hub:

• Features/Reviews: New Yorker (here), Wall Street Journal (here), Yahoo! News (here), New York Photo Review (here)

Everyday Epiphanies: Photography and Daily Life Since 1969

Through January 26th

Metropolitan Museum of Art

1000 Fifth Avenue

New York, NY 10028

Photography at the 2012 Armory Show

In previous years, my review of the photography at the Armory Show has required a handful of posts, breaking the fair up into smaller, more easily digestible chunks, since there was so much to write about. This year, I have collapsed all of the data into one single mega-post, the entire experience boiled down to something you can read in a few minutes. The reason I have chosen this approach is that for the first time in my many years of attending this fair, I was generally underwhelmed by what I saw on offer.

Taking pot shots at art fairs is far too easy to be any fun, and I have long been one of the few hold outs who actually enjoys the process of wandering through the bazaar, poking my head into booth after booth in search of something exciting hiding on an interior side wall. Perhaps it is because I already see so much here in New York that I felt that a spark was somehow missing this time; I bounced along the hallways, dutifully making my notes, but mostly nodding my head and moving along rather than digging in to engage the gallery owners. The fact that I could systematically cover the entire fair (both Piers) in just under two and half hours is proof that I didn't stop much to inquire more. I would hate to feel like I'd seen it all before, but that was certainly part of my reaction this year.

The second part of my conclusion was that I saw much more clearly a focus on what was sellable. For many of the non-photography specialist venues, I think the mantra was, when in doubt, put up a Cindy Sherman. From an economic standpoint, this makes complete sense - cover the walls of your booth with art that will sell (and sell for high prices) to ensure that you cover your costs of renting the space and doing all the work the fair entails; hopefully you'll sell a few pieces, meet some new collectors/clients, and come out ahead. The challenge is that if every gallery operates in this same manner, the fair takes on a quality of sameness that becomes dull. The richness of a fair comes in its diversity and risk taking, which is potentially at odds with maximizing profits. As I traveled the crowded halls, I felt the pressure of this commercial push and pull much more acutely than I had before. Of course, none of this is news, I just noticed it more than usual this year.

In any case, my notes from the fair are below, grouped by Pier and arranged by my path through the halls. For each booth, a list of photographers has been provided, with the number of works on display in parentheses. Additional commentary, prices, and pictures of the installation are also included as appropriate.

Pier 94

Galerie Anhava (here): Hreinn Fridfinnsson (1 set of 6)

NoPlace (here): Ingvild Langgård (1), Kjetil Berge (2), Kristine Jakobsen (2), Tommy Høvik
 (3)

Galleri Christian Torp (here): Marianne Hurum (1)

V1 Gallery (here): Peter Funch (1 triptych)

Christian Larsen Gallery (here): Charlotte Gyllenhammer (1), Joakim Eneroth (1). I liked the crisp abstract geometries of this series of red Swedish buildings by Eneroth. A monograph of the work is being published by Steidl. The print was priced at $10000.

Gallery Niklas Belenius (here): Leif Elggren (1 set of 18), Miriam Bäckström (2). There were two of these circular portraits by Bäckström in this booth. I was told the subjects are famous theater actors, but what I found intriguing was the heavy mirrored framing, tinted to match the photograph. The works were priced at $40000 each.

ELASTIC (here): Per Mårtensson (1 set of 8), Maria Hedlund (1 triptych, 1)

CRYSTAL (here): Julia Peirone (1 triptych, 1)

Galerie nächst St. Stephan Rosemarie Schwarzwälder (here): James Welling (1)

Galerie Nathalie Obadia (here): Youssef Nabil (1 diptych)

Whitechapel Gallery (here): Susan Hiller (1), Richard Wentworth (1), Paul Graham (1), Thomas Struth (1), Zarina Bhimji (1), Franz West (1), John Baldessari (1)

Richard Heller Gallery (here): Corey Arnold (4)

Howard Greenberg Gallery (here): Saul Leiter (6, plus 6 gouaches), Aaron Siskind (9), Charles Jones (4), Edward Burtynsky (1 diptych, 1), Vivian Maier (6), Weegee (5), Bruce Davidson (3), Robert Mapplethorpe (1), William Klein (1). I continue to enjoy Leiter's color work, and a grid of Siskind divers is always a high contrast visual statement.

Cardi Black Box (here): Shirana Shahbazi (1 diptych). I have been hearing more about this Iranian photographer's work lately, but haven't actually seen much of it in person. This diptych was priced at 25000€.

Upstream Gallery (here): Jeroen Jongeleen (1)

Bruce Silverstein Gallery (here): Shinichi Maruyama (3), Andre Kertesz (grid of 20, 1), Trine Sondergaard (2), Silvio Wolf (1), John Wood (1), Frederick Sommer (1 collage), Edward Weston (1), Constantin Brancusi (1), Robert Frank (1), Michael Wolf (1), Aaron Siskind (grid of 36), Todd Hido (2), Keith Smith (1 book), Zoe Strauss (grid of 12). There were several strong grids of work in this booth: the Kertesz distortions, the Siskind rock walls, and the Strauss color images on the outside wall.

Yossi Milo Gallery (here): Tim Hetherington (3), Matthew Brandt (1), Alison Rossiter (4 diptychs, 1), Simen Johan (1), Chris McCaw (1 diptych, 1), Sze Tsung Leong (1), Pieter Hugo (2)

Angles Gallery (here): Soo Kim (2), Ori Gersht (1 diptych), Augusta Wood (1), Judy Fiskin (2)

Frederic Snitzer Gallery (here): Kehinde Wiley (1), Sean Dack (1)

Galeria Senda (here): Ola Kolehmainen (1)

Galerie Crone (here): Rosemarie Trockel (2), Adrien Missika (4)

Michael Kohn Gallery (here): Simmons & Burke (5)

Rhona Hoffman Gallery (here): Robert Heinecken (1 triptych, 1 set of 6), Luis Gispert (1)

Galerie Parisa Kind (here): Mike Bouchet (1)

Peter Blum Gallery (here): Su-Mei Tse (1), John Beech (2)

Sprüth Magers (here): Louise Lawler (1), Cindy Sherman (3), Peter Fischli and David Weiss (3), Andreas Gursky (1), Barbara Kruger (1). I thought these perilously staged sculptural images by Fischli/Weiss were the best thing I saw at the fair. They were priced at 55000€ each.

Galleria Continua (here): Shilpa Gupta (1)

Mai 36 Galerie (here): John Baldessari (1 triptych, 1 diptych), Lugi Ghirri (1), Thomas Ruff (1), Robert Mapplethorpe (2). Hard to beat a monumental Ruff head shot portrait for being eye-catching and imposing.

Corvi-Mora (here): Anne Collier (1)

Kukje Gallery (here): Candida Höfer (1), Yeondoo Jung (1)

Corkin Gallery (here): Barbara Astman (1 group of 6, 6), Brett Weston (1), Marjorie Content (1), Berenice Abbott (1), Garry Winogrand (2), Robert Frank (1), Margaret Bourke-White (1), Herbert Bayer (1), Walker Evans (1), George Platt Lynes (2), Andre Kertesz (1), Guy Bourdin (1), Francesco Scavullo (3), Thaddeus Holownia (16), Frank Madler (4), Ian Baxter (1)

Galeria Filomena Soares (here): Joao Penalva (1), Carlos Motta (21), Helena Almeida (1), Vasco Araujo (1)

Dirimart (here): O Zhang (1)

Kalfayan Galleries (here): Hrair Sarkissian (3), Breda Beban (3)

Ai Kowada Gallery (here): Hiroshi Sugimoto (3)

moniquemeloche (here): Aaron Siskind (2), Laszlo Moholy-Nagy (1)

BISCHOFF/WEISS (here): Michael Reisch (3)

Ratio 3 (here): Geof Oppenheimer (3), Matthew Hale (1)

Cherry and Martin (here): Robert Heinecken (1 triptych, 1 set of 5), Amanda Ross-Ho (1)

Jack Shainman Gallery (here): Hank Willis Thomas (1), Gauri Gill (1)

González y González (here): Patrick Hamilton (3), Jota Castro (2)

Carolina Nitsch (here): Cindy Sherman (1), EV Day (1), Carsten Holler (5), Vera Lutter (1)

Galeria Nara Roesler (here): Lucia Koch (2), Marcos Chaves (1)

Galerie Georg Kargl (here): Cindy Sherman (1)

Galerie Bob van Orsouw (here): Nobuyoshi Araki (16), Shirana Shahbazi (2). This wall of Araki images from the 1960s/1970s was looser and less staged than his later, more recognizable work.

Lisson Gallery (here): James Casebere (1), Gerald Byre (1 set of 16), Tim Lee (1)

Max Wigram Gallery (here): Mustafa Hulusi (2)

Ingleby Gallery (here): Peter Liversidge (1), Garry Fabian Miller (1)

Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery (here): Pertti Kekarainen (2), Ola Kolehmainen (4), Jorma Puranen (4), Susanna Majuri (2), Niko Luoma (4)

Other Criteria (here): Polly Borland (2)

Parkett Publishers (here): Zoe Leonard (1), Tracy Emin (1)

Mary Ryan Gallery (here): Sangbin Im (1 dipytch, 1)

Poligrafa Obra Grafica (here): Tony Oursler (1)

Galerie Anne de Villepoix (here): Sam Samore (1)

Kavi Gupta (here): Roe Ethridge (3)

Edward Tyler Nahem Fine Art (here): Andres Serrano (13). An entire booth of bold silhouetted toys and action figures, derivative of David Levinthal I thought.

Andréhn-Schiptjenko (here): Matts Leiderstam (14)

Victoria Miro (here): William Eggleston (1), Stan Douglas (1), Issac Julien (1), Francesca Woodman (3), Alex Hartley (1 diptych), Doug Aitken (1 lightbox)

Sean Kelly Gallery (here): James Casebere (2), Frank Thiel (1), Idris Khan (3), Robert Mapplethorpe (2), Alec Soth (3). These new images of London landmarks by Khan seem less ridigly conceptual than his earlier works, while still employing the ghostly multiple overlayed exposure technique. This print was priced at £35000. The Soth images were from his series of goth girls.

Leo Koenig Inc. (here): Gerhard Richter (3), Sigmar Polke (1)

Mendes Wood (here): Paolo Nazareth (7)

ONE AND J. Gallery (here): Kang Hong-Goo (6, 1 triptych, 1 wall installation)

On Stellar Rays (here): Clifford Owens (1 wall installation)

Henrique Faria Fine Art (here): Marta Minujin (6), Alessandro Balteo Yazbeck (1), Pedro Teran (2), Anna Bella Geiger (1 set of 18)

Galerie Forsblom (here): Chen Jiagang (1), Ola Kolehmainen (1). I haven't seen images by Chen this large before; it appeared to be in three integrated panels. The work was priced at $60000.

Luciana Brito Galeria (here): Caio Reisewitz (1)

Galerie Daniel Templon (here): James Casebere (1)

BLAIN/SOUTHERN (here): Mat Collinshaw (1), Wim Wenders (4)

Marianne Boesky Gallery (here): Anthony Pearson (5)

Baro Galleria (here): Claudia Jaguaribe (2)


Pier 92

Vivian Horan Fine Art (here): Cindy Sherman (2), John Baldessari (1), Elger Esser (1)

Springer & Winckler Galerie (here): Hiroshi Sugimoto (1), Arnold Odermatt (3 color, 6 black and white), Georges Rousse (1), Andy Goldsworthy (1), Bernd and Hilla Becher (1 set of 4). I think these black and white Odermatt car crashes are wonderfully formal; while I've seen many of them before, they continue to grow on me. They were priced between $4000 and $8000 each.

Galerie Thomas (here): Thomas Struth (1)

Galerie Sho Contemporary Art (here): Helmut Newton (1)

Wetterling Gallery (here): Nathalia Edenmont (2), Mike and Doug Starn (2)

HackelBury Fine Art (here): Garry Fabian Miller (4, 1 set of 11), Mike and Doug Starn (5)

Senior & Shopmaker Gallery (here): Jan Dibbets (1), Richard Long (1)

Mireille Mosler Ltd. (here): Ed Van Der Elsken (1), Philip-Lorca diCorcia (1), Cindy Sherman (8), William Wegman (1 diptych). I really enjoy the clever absurdity of Wegman's early 1970s conceptual work. This work is entitled Which Tube Attracts the Dog?; Wegman holds a tiny tube on the left and a massive one on the right. The dog's head peeks in from the left in the right panel. The work was priced at $30000.

Marc Selwyn Fine Art (here): Robert Heinecken (3), Matt Lipps (1), Richard Misrach (1)

Alan Koppel Gallery (here): Walker Evans (1), August Sander (1), Hiroshi Sugimoto (4), Diane Arbus (1), Yves Klein (1). For our particular collection, this tiny Walker Evans was the best fit at the fair. I have always coveted the few images from this series of train tracks he did in the late 1920s, and this is one of the best I've seen. It was priced at $20000.

James Barron Art (here): Luigi Ghirri (3)

Chowaiki & Co. (here): Marilyn Minter (2), Cindy Sherman (1), Gregory Crewdson (1), Nobuyoshi Araki (1 diptych), Shirin Nehsat (1)

Gerald Peters Gallery (here): Alfred Steiglitz (2), J. Henry Fair (2), Craig Varjabedlan (3). The two O'Keeffe nudes by Stielglitz were on a side wall.

Robert Klein Gallery (here): Francesca Woodman (7), Mario Giacomelli (4), Edward Burtynsky (1), Irving Penn (10), Bill Jacobsen (3)

Yancey Richardson Gallery (here): Jitka Hanzlova (6), Andrew Moore (1), Sharon Core (5), Rachel Perry Welty (2), Bryan Graf (3), Olivo Barbieri (1), Sebastiao Salgado (1), Victoria Samburnaris (1), Bernd and Hilla Becher (1 set of 9), Kenneth Josephson (1)

Ricco Maresca Gallery (here): Tim Freccia (4)

Carl Hammer Gallery (here): Blythe Bohnen (3)