William Christenberry: Photographs, 1961–2005
Exhibition on view:
Saturday, April 05, 2008 — Sunday, June 01, 2008
University of Michigan Museum of Art
525 South State Street
Ann Arbor, Michigan
(743) 615-8186
Along with such masters as William Eggleston and Stephen Shore, William Christenberry is widely recognized as a pioneer in the field of color photography. His photographic exploration of the American South has been ongoing for forty years, drawing inspiration from Walker Evans, and paralleling the work of international practitioners like Bernd and Hilla Becher, all the while influencing a generation of emerging photographers. Ranging from Brownie photographs of the early 1960s to later work with a large-format camera, William Christenberry: Photographs, 1961–2005 is a survey of this artist’s poetic documentation of Southern vernacular architecture, signage, and landscape that captures moments of quite beauty in a sometimes rustic terrain. Coupling never-before-seen photographs, both old and new, with images that are now iconic, this exhibition comprises fifty vintage photographic works and one sculpture and, in turn, conveys the breadth of Christenberry’s unprecedented project and singular photographic vision. The exhibition coincides with a multimedia retrospective at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.
