Richard Misrach, *Cabbage Crop Near Brownsville, Texas*, 2015, pigment print mounted to Dibond, image, paper and mount, 60 x 80", frame, 64 x 84 x 3" © Richard Misrach

News

Expanding our Photography Program

Jan 22, 2020

Pace/MacGill Gallery will be integrated into Pace through the creation of an expanded photography department helmed by Lauren Panzo, formerly Vice President at Pace/MacGill, alongside Kimberly Jones and Margaret Kelly. This decision will reinforce the gallery’s photographic expertise and provide a base for further growth in the area of 20th-century and contemporary photography.

Through this merger, Pace will bring five new artists working in the realm of photography into the gallery’s program: Harry Callahan, Robert Frank, David Goldblatt, Peter Hujar, and Richard Misrach. These artists join an existing roster of photographers already represented by Pace, including Richard Avedon, Paul Graham, Richard Learoyd, and Irving Penn.

“The expansion of our capabilities in photography is an incredibly exciting development for Pace," says Marc Glimcher, Pace Gallery's President & CEO. "Peter MacGill defined the ultimate gold standard as the preeminent photography gallery in the US. For almost 40 years, he has never ceased to be a leading force. We are honored to continue this legacy with his remarkable people and the culture of expertise that Peter created. Lauren Panzo and the team provide us with a level of integrity and knowledge in this highly specialized area of contemporary art that is unmatched by our competitors. Pace always strives for the highest professional standard, and we are now setting a benchmark in photography. We are thrilled to add some true legends of the medium to our roster, and look forward to presenting our first projects with these artists as part of our ever more diverse program.”

Pace will stage two monographic photography exhibitions this year, including a presentation of two bodies of work by Paul Graham New York in Feburary, and an exhibition of photographs by Irving Penn at Pace’s Geneva gallery in March. Comprising a suite of large-scale photographs reminiscent of Breugel’s series The Seasons and a series of twenty nearly 20 small portraits, Graham’s exhibition will run from February 28 – April 11, 2020, at 510 West 25th Street. Additionally, Pace will present dedicated photography presentations at major art fairs throughout the year, including Paris Photo in the fall.

108246.11_CALLAHAN_v01.jpg — Harry Callahan, *Cape Cod*, 1972, vintage gelatin silver print, image, 9 1/4 x 12 1/8", paper, 11 x 14" © The Estate of Harry Callahan

Harry Callahan

One of the foremost American photographers of the 20th century, Harry Callahan devoted his energies to the medium following a workshop by Ansel Adams at the Detroit Photo Guild in 1941 and a meeting with Alfred Stieglitz in 1942. Callahan returned to the same subjects throughout his prolific six-decade career – his wife Eleanor and daughter Barbara, the urban environment, and nature – continually developing new methods to embrace and depict them. Instrumental in introducing a vocabulary of formal abstraction into American photography at a time when descriptive realism was the dominant aesthetic, Callahan employed techniques of extreme contrast, reduction of form, seriality and multiple exposure to present his subjects from unexpected points of view.

Learn More About Harry Callahan

Robert Frank

Robert Frank redefined the aesthetic of both the still and the moving image. After receiving his first Guggenheim Fellowship in 1955, Frank embarked on a two-year trip across America during which he took the photographs that were ultimately published in his groundbreaking monograph The Americans. In 1959, Frank made his first film, the Beat classic Pull My Daisy with the help of Jack Kerouac, who provided improvisational narration for the film. Frank continued making films throughout his career, including his iconic and controversial film, Cocksucker Blues, which documented the Rolling Stones’ 1972 tour. When Frank returned to still photography, his work began to include autobiographical elements where he created narratives using text and multiple frames of images whose negatives he deliberately scratched and altered. In a career spanning over fifty years, Frank inflected his perspective on our world-at-large to produce a body of work that defies easy classification beyond its singularly experimental nature.

Learn More About Robert Frank

David Goldblatt

David Goldblatt chronicled the structures, people and landscapes of his country from 1948 until his death. Well known for his photography which explored both public and private life in South Africa, Goldblatt created a body of powerful images which depicted life during the time of Apartheid. Goldblatt also extensively photographed colonial era monuments and buildings with the idea that the architecture reveals something about the people who built them. In 1989, Goldblatt founded the Market Photography Workshop in Johannesburg to provide further education in visual literacy to disadvantaged students during the apartheid regime.

Learn More About David Goldblatt

Peter Hujar

Peter Hujar photographed his subjects with penetrating sensitivity and psychological depth. Unflinching and at times dark, he captured intellectuals, luminaries, and members of New York City subculture in moments of disarmed vulnerability. Hujar embraced male sexuality unabashedly, and was unafraid to examine death and dying. He was at the forefront of the group of artists, musicians, writers, and performers in downtown New York in the 1970’s and early 80’s. He succumbed to AIDS in 1987, leaving behind a complex and profound body of work that has become posthumously celebrated worldwide.

Learn More About Peter Hujar

118545.49_MISRACH_v01.jpg — Richard Misrach, *Diving Board, Salton Sea*, 1983, chromogenic print mounted to board, image, 18 1/4 x 23 1/4", paper and mount, 20 x 24" © Richard Misrach

Richard Misrach

Richard Misrach has photographed the dynamic landscape of the American West through an environmentally aware and politically astute lens for over 40 years. His visually seductive, large-scale color vistas powerfully document the devastating ecological effects of human intervention, industrial development, nuclear testing and petrochemical pollution on the natural world. His best known and ongoing epic series, Desert Cantos, explores the complex conjunction between mankind and nature. Most recently, Misrach’s focus has been the border between the United States and Mexico. This series, Border Cantos, examines the complex socio-political dialogue surrounding immigration.

Learn More About Richard Misrach

News — Expanding Our Photography Program, Jan 22, 2020