Those currently enjoying the winter sun in New York would do well to stop by Cheim & Reid this month, for their William Eggleston and Diane Arbus shows. Titled 21st Century, the Eggleston exhibition showcases the photographer’s most recent body work. The images bear his trademark, showcasing his deep concern for color and surface, as seen through the oddities of everyday life and North American landscape. While some of the prints lack the vibrancy and depth of tone and characteristic of Eggleston’s early dye transfer prints (indeed, the digital grain is strangely off-putting), his visual acuity is still impossible to deny. If you’re in Chicago or LA in the coming months, definitely check out his monumental retrospective, William Eggleston: Democratic Camera; Photography and Video 1961-2008.
The Arbus show, In the Absence of Others, is a collection of rarely seen photos from the 60’s. Unlike her more famous bodies of work, these images are entirely bereft of people; instead of celebrity and freak, Arbus focused on the ghostly impressions they left behind, in their homes, workplaces, and places of worship. Chronically underexposed, these images maintain the disquieting sense of eccentricity her portraiture is known for. Forms and shapes jump out at you as you lean closer; a swan floating in a Disney moat, or the empty facade of a house on the prairie.
Both exhibitions run through February 13th.
Cheim & Reid
547 West 25th Street New York, NY 10001
Top: photography by William Eggleston
Bottom: photography by Diane Arbus
