Ellsworth Kelly's Photographic Vision Revealed in Posthumous Exhibition at Matthew Marks Gallery
From February 26 to April 30, 2016, the Matthew Marks Gallery in New York City presented 31 gelatin silver prints by Ellsworth Kelly, produced shortly before his passing in 2015. The images, captured between 1950 and 1982, showcase geometric forms characteristic of Kelly's artistic style. In a 1991 essay featured in the exhibition catalog, Kelly elaborated on how framing and optics influence perception, emphasizing photography as a tool for viewing from various perspectives. His pieces, including Barn, Southampton and Doorway Shadow, Spencertown, encapsulate shapes and shadows, converting transient moments into enduring artworks. The exhibition at 523 West 24 Street underscored Kelly's emphasis on the abstract aspects of everyday experiences.
Key facts
- Ellsworth Kelly's photographs were exhibited from February 26 to April 30, 2016 at Matthew Marks Gallery in New York City.
- The exhibition featured 31 gelatin silver prints produced under Kelly's supervision months before his death in 2015.
- The photographs were shot between 1950 and 1982, showcasing geometric shapes like triangles, trapezoids, and rhombuses.
- Kelly's 1991 essay, reprinted for the catalog, discussed framing and stereoptics in relation to vision and photography.
- Kelly described photography as a way to see from another angle, focusing on the interplay of dimensions.
- In Barn, Southampton, barn doors create white and black rectangles under a triangular roof.
- Doorway Shadow, Spencertown includes a rhombus-shaped shadow on plywood with contrasting textures.
- Kelly emphasized that photography translates three-dimensional seeing into two dimensions, a mental process.
Entities
Artists
- Ellsworth Kelly
Institutions
- Matthew Marks Gallery
- artcritical
Locations
- New York City
- United States
- Southampton
- Spencertown