ICP Museum to Open Four Exhibitions in May 2018

On View: May 23–September 2, 2018
Media Preview: Monday, May 21 | 12–2 PM
Location: ICP Museum, 250 Bowery, New York, NY

The International Center of Photography (ICP) proudly announces details about its ambitious May 2018 exhibition programming, which will feature four distinct shows in the ICP Museum (250 Bowery, New York, NY). On view from May 23 through September 2, the exhibitions explore the past, present, and future of the photographic medium and mark the first time that four different shows are being presented simultaneously in the space.

The exhibitions include:

• Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Decisive Moment examines Cartier-Bresson’s influential photobook, described by Robert Capa as “a Bible for photographers.” It brings together vintage gelatin silver prints, first-edition publications, periodicals, and correspondence to shed new light on this pioneering photobook.
• Elliott Erwitt: Pittsburgh 1950 explores a crucial moment in the history of an American city, captured with quiet insight and playful wit by Elliott Erwitt at the outset of his distinguished career. It marks the first time these images are being shown in the US.
• Multiply, Identify, Her features work by Geta Brătescu, Stephanie Dinkins, Christina Fernandez, Barbara Hammer, Roni Horn, Wangechi Mutu, Gina Osterloh, Sondra Perry, Lorna Simpson, and Mickalene Thomas. From cut-photograph collage to an exploration of life-extending artificial intelligence, this exhibition showcases work by an intergenerational group of women artists exploring the construction and implications of hybrid and multiple identities.
• RFK Funeral Train: The People’s View is a response to Paul Fusco’s elegiac photographs of bystanders paying their last respects to the assassinated Robert F. Kennedy as his funeral train traveled from New York to Washington, DC, on June 8, 1968. Presented with a selection of Fusco’s prints, Rein Jelle Terpstra’s film installation stitches together vernacular photographs with audio and video remembrances in an attempt to hold on to a pivotal moment in American history.

“We are so thrilled to present these four distinctive exhibitions this May. All are strong stand-alone shows, but together, they illustrate the breadth of ICP’s commitment to photography and visual culture, starting with our roots in ‘concerned photography’ and continuing through the evolving and ongoing conversation about the medium,” says Mark Lubell, Executive Director of ICP. “It’s a wonderful opportunity to juxtapose the legacy of Cartier-Bresson, the mastery of Erwitt, and a show featuring powerful contemporary voices.”

More About the Exhibitions

Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Decisive Moment examines Cartier-Bresson’s influential publication, widely considered to be one of the most important photobooks of the twentieth century. Pioneering for its emphasis on the photograph itself as a unique narrative form, The Decisive Moment was described by Robert Capa as “a Bible for photographers.” Originally titled Images à la Sauvette (“images on the run”) in the French, the book was published in English with a new title, The Decisive Moment, which unintentionally imposed the motto which would define Cartier-Bresson’s work. The exhibition details how the decisions made by the collaborators in this major project—including Cartier-Bresson, French art publisher Tériade, American publisher Simon and Schuster, and Henri Matisse, who designed the book’s cover—have shaped our understanding of Cartier-Bresson’s photographs. Through vintage gelatin silver prints, first-edition publications, periodicals, and correspondence, Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Decisive Moment brings new insights to this iconic work. The exhibition was organized by the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson.

ICP’s presentation of Henri Cartier-Bresson: The Decisive Moment has been made possible by First Republic Bank, public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and the Joseph and Joan Cullman Foundation for the Arts, Inc.

Elliott Erwitt: Pittsburgh 1950: In 1950 Elliott Erwitt, then just twenty-two years old, set out to capture Pittsburgh’s transformation from an industrial city into a modern metropolis. Commissioned by Roy Stryker, the mastermind behind the large-scale documentary photography projects launched by the US government during the Great Depression, Erwitt shot hundreds of frames. His images recorded the city’s communities against the backdrop of urban change, highlighting his quiet observations with the playful wit that has defined his style for over five decades. After only four months, Erwitt was drafted into the army and sent to Germany, leaving his negatives behind in Stryker’s Pittsburgh Photographic Library. The negatives remained at the Pennsylvania Department of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh for decades until Vaughn Wallace, now a senior photo editor at National Geographic, rediscovered the archive. Elliott Erwitt: Pittsburgh 1950 was organized by Assistant Curator Claartje van Dijk in collaboration with the photographer. The exhibition was made possible with the support of Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.

This exhibition has been made possible by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the Joseph and Joan Cullman Foundation for the Arts, Inc.

Multiply, Identify, Her: This exhibition features an intergenerational group of women artists whose work explores the construction of hybrid and multiple identities. Working in photography, video, and film, through assemblage, collage, multi-part portraiture, and the use of avatars both analogue and digital, these artists reckon with complex and mutable selves. These selves—mirrored, repeated, transfigured, and cloned—emerge from intersecting confrontations: with their own image, with social histories that elide with intimate ones, with the weight of gendered archetypes, and with the ambivalent promises of technology. Made between the late 1990s and today, the work on view has roots in key feminist art historical discussions and presents non-singular selves that, in their multiplicity, vulnerability, and radicality, challenge patriarchal modes of power. Featuring work ranging from cut-photograph collage to an exploration of life-extending artificial intelligence, this exhibition considers transcending the singular, unified self as a psychological and political aspiration, as well as a future, technology-enabled reality. Multiply, Identify, Her features work by Geta Brătescu, Stephanie Dinkins, Christina Fernandez, Barbara Hammer, Roni Horn, Wangechi Mutu, Gina Osterloh, Sondra Perry, Lorna Simpson, and Mickalene Thomas. It was organized by Assistant Curator Marina Chao.

This exhibition has been made possible by the generous support of the ICP Exhibitions Committee, public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and the Joseph and Joan Cullman Foundation for the Arts, Inc.

RFK Funeral Train: The People’s View: This year will mark half a century since Robert F. Kennedy’s funeral train made its way from New York City to Washington DC. Several photographers, including Paul Fusco, traveled on the funeral train and photographed the entire journey from the train. The main subject of these images is the people who stand along the tracks, paying their last respects and expressing bewilderment and sorrow. Terpstra’s film installation aims to reverse the perspective that Fusco offered in his touching photographs by showing the snapshots and 8mm home movies of the train as taken by the spectators combined with their recollections of that day. The people along the track photographed the train for themselves in an attempt to hold on to a moment in history. Terpstra strives to link these images together once more, just as the people stood side by side along the railroad.

This exhibition has been made possible by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the Joseph and Joan Cullman Foundation for the Arts, Inc.

Additional Paul Fusco RFK Funeral Train photographs will be on view at Danziger Gallery (95 Rivington Street, New York, NY) through June 22.

About ICP

The International Center of Photography (ICP) is the world’s leading institution dedicated to photography and visual culture. Founded by Cornell Capa in 1974 to preserve the legacy of “concerned photography”—in which the reproduced image is both a catalyst and record of social change—ICP’s mission endures even as the medium and practices of socially engaged imagemaking have changed. Through its new museum, located at 250 Bowery, as well as exhibitions, school, public programs, and community outreach, ICP offers an open forum for dialogue about the role images play in our culture. Since its founding, more than 700 exhibitions and thousands of classes have been presented, providing instruction at every level. ICP brings together photographers and artists, students, and scholars to create and interpret the world of the image, exploring photography and visual culture as mediums of empowerment and as catalysts for wide-reaching social change. Learn more at icp.org.

Contact

Meryl Cooper, 917.974.0022, press@icp.org