The Easel

16th February 2021

Irving Penn: Photographism @Pace

Richard Woodward | Collector Daily | 2nd February 2021

From quite early, Penn showed that commercial photography could merge into art. Clearly, his early training to be a painter shaped his modernist aesthetic. But what magic did he bring to photography? An ability to balance “allurement with revulsion”? The graphic quality of many of his images? Perhaps the timelessness of his images reflects the lessons he derived from great painting and sculpture – “simplicity, rigor, wit, elegance”.

Man Ray’s Subtle Surrealistic Genius Women

Benjamin Blake Evemy | MutualArt | 12th February 2021

Man Ray left painting for photography only to keep striving for photography’s “painterly potential”. Surrealism’s ideas about paradoxical imagery were thus bound to appeal. Did he produce “stunning works of visual art”? He certainly expanded the boundaries of photography and created some memorable images. However, Ray’s work did nothing to prevent surrealism’s decline and, to modern eyes, his images seem overly full of young nude studio assistants.

9th February 2021

Gordon Parks: Beautiful photos of an ugly history

Andrew Dickson | bbc.com | 4th February 2021

There are two sides to Parks’ photography. One was the chronicling of civil rights protests. Those images focus on individuals rather than scenes of conflict and show, in a way that still resonates, what it means to be black and American. His other side showed when Parks “allowed his poet’s eye to roam”. These images show “the ambiguity and complications of reality, genuine people … You just see a lot of beauty in these pictures, always beauty.”

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