Muscle Memory: Lens on the Body at Phoenix Art Museum
Phoenix Art Museum presents 'Muscle Memory: Lens on the Body', an exhibition exploring photographic representations of the human body from the 19th century to the present. Curated by Emilia Mickevicius, the show features over 80 works drawn primarily from the Center for Creative Photography and the museum's collection, including pieces by Richard Avedon, Diane Arbus, Robert Mapplethorpe, and Claire A. Warden. The exhibition is organized into four thematic sections: Surface Tension, Kinetic Beauty, Know Thyself, and Enduring. It runs from January 24 to June 28, 2026.
Key facts
- Exhibition dates: January 24 – June 28, 2026
- Curated by Emilia Mickevicius, Norton Family Assistant Curator of Photography
- Over 80 works on display
- Works from the Center for Creative Photography and Phoenix Art Museum collections
- Four thematic sections: Surface Tension, Kinetic Beauty, Know Thyself, Enduring
- Features artists including Richard Avedon, Diane Arbus, Robert Mapplethorpe, Claire A. Warden, and more
- Highlights Arizona-based artists
- Includes cameraless photographs by Claire A. Warden using saliva to break down film emulsion
Entities
Artists
- Emilia Mickevicius
- Claire A. Warden
- Richard Avedon
- Diane Arbus
- Robert Mapplethorpe
- Aaron Siskind
- Leon Borensztein
- Stephen Marc
- Charles "Teenie" Harris
- Eadweard J. Muybridge
- Harold Edgerton
- Terrell Groggins
- Walter Iooss
- John Gutmann
- Brian Weil
- Lauren Greenfield
- Rosalind Fox Solomon
- Anne Noggle
- Frances Murray
- Manuel Álvarez Bravo
- Imogen Cunningham
- Arno Rafael Minkkinen
- Roy DeCarava
- W. Eugene Smith
- Jan Groover
- Ittetsu Morishita
- John Coplans
- Graciela Iturbide
- Barbara Crane
- Nan Goldin
- William Camargo
- Marcus Chormicle
- Mehrdad Mirzaie
- Zhang Huan
- Jeremy Mikolajczak
- Frank Vic
- Ted Polhemus
- Anthony Giddens
- Erich Fromm
- Jean-Paul Sartre
- Edmund Husserl
- Esther Blackmon
- Horacio Martinez
- Densmore Shute
- Michael Jordan
- Charles Barkley
Institutions
- Phoenix Art Museum
- Center for Creative Photography
- University of Arizona
- PhxArt
- PhMuseum
- MIT
- Palm Press Inc.
- Aaron Siskind Foundation
- Bentley Global Arts Group
Locations
- Phoenix
- Arizona
- United States
- Tucson
- Sidney
- Iowa
- San Francisco
- California
- New York
- Chicago
- Forbes Field
- North Carolina