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STEPHEN SHORE: COLOURING AMERICAN PHOTOGRAPHY
24 SEPTEMBER – 23 NOVEMBER 2008 The first
solo exhibition in South Africa of the work of American photographer,
Stephen Shore, is a component and highlight of MoP4, Cape Town’s Month
of Photography. The exhibition focuses on two of Shore’s seminal
series: ‘American Surfaces’ and ‘Uncommon Places’, but includes a
selection from the ‘Amarillo postcard series’ along with more recent
work such as Shore’s ‘ibooks’, which use print-on-demand digital
technology.
Stephen Shore’s early photography, from the 1970s, was amongst the
first colour photography to be included within the canon of art. He
was the youngest person and the first living photographer to hold a
solo exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art at the age of
twenty-four. Shore’s images documenting the cultural landscape of the
1970s and 1980s in his travels across America richly demonstrate the
tempo, palette and artifacts of the time. Although seemingly taken in
a snapshot style, reflection reveals that they are carefully
constructed compositions in which he transforms the mundane and
inconsequential through a process of ‘conscious attention’. While his
early work was roundly condemned by contemporary critics for its sharp
deviation from the black-and-white art photographic conventions of the
time, it is now regarded as having had a significant impact on the
trajectory of contemporary photography and has influenced countless
photographers, from Andreas Gursky to Nan Goldin. This exhibition was organised and sponsored by the Roger Ballen
Foundation, which is dedicated to promoting the education of
photography and focuses on bringing the work of international
photographers to South Africa. Enquiries: Pam Warne, Tel. 021 467
4671, or email
pwarne@iziko.org.za. |
