artpress revisits 1980-1981 photography and painting debates

In a three-part series echoing its December 2020–January 2021 dossier on the landmark 1980 exhibition 'Ils se disent peintres, ils se disent photographes,' artpress publishes a second installment of period exhibition reviews from 1980–1981. The dossier revisits the show curated by Michel Nuridsany at ARC/Musée d'art moderne de la Ville de Paris, which brought together 36 artists to explore the blurring of boundaries between painting and photography. The series also includes solo show reviews from Parisian galleries, such as John Hilliard at Galerie Durand-Dessert, Eve Sonneman at Galerie Farideh Cadot, and Boyd Webb at Galerie Sonnabend. Hilliard's work, presented alongside his book 'Borderland,' uses double images from the same negative to question photographic representation. Sonneman's diptychs in Cibachrome juxtapose spaces and moments, creating ambiguous narratives. Webb's staged photographs, made in a circular studio with even lighting, mix precision and absurdity, placing him among artists like Boltanski and Luigi Ghirri who construct rather than document. Carole Naggar's review of Webb ends with a sharp conclusion that his mise-en-scène also transcends the painter-photographer opposition. The first part of the series is available online; the third part is scheduled for early January.