The Bad Boys of Photography

The Bad Boys of Photography is curated by VCUarts Anderson Gallery Assistant Director and Curator of Collections, Amy Moorefield. The exhibition features 34 images by 14 photographers culled from the Gallery’s extensive photography collection. Bad Boys will showcase the rebellious nature of some of the most famous photographers with a focus on extreme methods of process, subject matter and persona. The exhibition roster includes such 20-21st century luminaries as: Robert Beckmann, Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Harry Callahan, Larry Clark, Thomas A. Daniel, Bruce Davidson, Elliot Erwitt, Robert Frank, Thomas Florschuetz, Danny Lyon, Roger Mertin, John Pfahl, Stephen Shore, Aaron Siskind, and Garry Winogrand.

Bad Boys features some of the best examples of artists breaking the traditional rules of photography. Each used defiant means to push the preverbal envelope of the ever-shifting medium of photography. Exhibited works include Larry Clark’s “hyper-realist” compositions from his Tulsa series documenting his and his friends amphetamine use and abuse during the 1960’s and 70’s. Bruce Davidson’s featured works are from his famous series entitled Subway, which explores the subway as the “equalizer” (metaphorically and physically) between the people of New York.

VCUarts Photography and Film Distinguished Visiting Artist faculty member, Thomas A. Daniel, explores the seedy underbelly of Daytona Biker Bars. Daniel, one of the first photographers to be invited to document this subculture, catches dancers and bikers in a dangerous bacchanal. Danny Lyon used subversive means to gain permission from the Texas prison administration to photograph inmates whom he had befriended in Texas in the 1960s. Garry Winogrand’s documentary images of political rallies demonstrate his talent at thrusting himself into the center of action to capture the evocative moment. Robert Frank images challenged the boundaries between the still and moving image.

Other exhibited photographers, such as Stephen Shore and Aaron Siskind, made images as a reaction to a visual challenge. For Shore, it was the re-documentation of the rural landscape of North America in color photographs. This served as an art historical challenge to his predecessor photographer Walker Evans, who photographed similar scenes, but who once said “color photography is vulgar.” Aaron Siskind, who was closely aligned with the Abstract Expressionist School of painting, used his camera as a “paintbrush” and his skill as a master photographer forever changed how we look at everyday objects. The exhibited photographs are from a series that Siskind dedicated to his friend the Abstract expressionist painter, Franz Kline. The images of John Pfahl and Robert Beckmann challenge the government’s encroachment on the environment.

Exhibited images by Roger Mertin, Manuel Alverez Bravo, Harry Callahan and Thomas Florschuetz provoke the viewer through daring interpretations of the nude.

“Each of these photographers made an impressive leap for the history of the medium by extraordinary methods,sometimes illegally, to push the boundaries for future generations of photographers to challenge” states Amy Moorefield. “This group is considered bad boys in that they circumvented the traditional norm and took real risks with capturing the moment or subject, sometimes participating in culturally unacceptable situations, pushed the technical aspects of the camera and the darkroom to the limit and put their careers and physical well being at risk for the camera.”

Pressetext

The Bad Boys of Photography
kurator: Amy Moorefield

künstler:
Robert Beckmann, Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Harry Callahan, Larry Clark, Thomas A. Daniel, Bruce Davidson, Elliott Erwitt, Robert Frank, Thomas Florschuetz, Danny Lyon, Roger Mertin, John Pfahl, Stephen Shore, Aaron Siskind, Garry Winogrand