Garry Winogrand
Jeu de Paume, Paris

12 January 2015

What do things look like when photographed? This is what Garry Winogrand (1928-84) asked himself as he roamed America after the Second World War and created his iconic images, moving invisibly between faces, parades, sidewalks, election rallies and local folklore. At once flippant and dramatic, Winogrand is the protagonist of a retrospective not to be missed at the Jeu de Paume in Paris, where over half the prints are being shown for the first time. In 1967, together with Lee Friedlander and Diane Arbus, he changed the history of photography forever with the exhibition New Documents at the MoMA in New York, subverting in almost scandalous fashion the principles of documentary photography as they had been laid down just a few years earlier by The Family of Man (1955), curated at the same venue by Edward Steichen. In his pictures Winogrand captured a schizophrenic society, catapulted into the most glaring exhibitionism (convertible cars, electrical appliances, wigs and hairdos), still in the grip of racial prejudice and ready to go back to war in Vietnam and to repress the student movements and the aspirations of the new generations. He represented the feelings of a country with his photos: not limiting himself to documenting, he delved behind the appearances of a widespread affluence and showed us a crude and sensual reality. A talent worth rediscovering.

Garry Winogrand
Jeu de Paume
Curated by Leo Rubinfien, Erin O’Toole and Sarah Greenough
Paris
October 14, 2014 > February 8, 2015

Los Angeles, 1980–1983. Garry Winogrand. Garry Winogrand Archive, Center for Creative Photography, The University of Arizona. © The Estate of Garry Winogrand, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco.

Garry Winogrand, Los Angeles, 1980–1983. Garry Winogrand Archive, Center for Creative Photography, The University of Arizona. © The Estate of Garry Winogrand.

New York, 1962. Garry Winogrand. The Garry Winogrand Archive, Center for Creative Photography, The University of Arizona. © The Estate of Garry Winogrand, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

Garry Winogrand, New York, 1962. The Garry Winogrand Archive, Center for Creative Photography, The University of Arizona. © The Estate of Garry Winogrand.

New York, 1960. Garry Winogrand. The Garry Winogrand Archive, Center for Creative Photography, The University of Arizona. © The Estate of Garry Winogrand, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco.

Garry Winogrand, New York, 1960. The Garry Winogrand Archive, Center for Creative Photography, The University of Arizona. © The Estate of Garry Winogrand.

New York, 1969. Garry Winogrand. Collection of Jeffrey Fraenkel and Alan Mark. © The Estate of Garry Winogrand, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco.

Garry Winogrand, New York, 1969. Collection of Jeffrey Fraenkel and Alan Mark. © The Estate of Garry Winogrand.

New Haven, Connecticut 1970. Garry Winogrand. The Garry Winogrand Archive, Center for Creative Photography, The University of Arizona. © The Estate of Garry Winogrand, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco.

Garry Winogrand, New Haven, Connecticut, 1970. The Garry Winogrand Archive, Center for Creative Photography, The University of Arizona. © The Estate of Garry Winogrand.

Houston, 1964. Garry Winogrand. The Garry Winogrand Archive, Center for Creative Photography, Université d’Arizona. © The Estate of Garry Winogrand, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco.

Garry Winogrand, Houston, 1964. The Garry Winogrand Archive, Center for Creative Photography, Université d’Arizona. © The Estate of Garry Winogrand.

Los Angeles, 1964. Garry Winogrand. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, gift of Jeffrey Fraenkel. © The Estate of Garry Winogrand, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco.

Garry Winogrand, Los Angeles, 1964. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, gift of Jeffrey Fraenkel.
© The Estate of Garry Winogrand.

New York, 1962. Garry Winogrand. The Garry Winogrand Archive, Center for Creative Photography, The University of Arizona. © The Estate of Garry Winogrand, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco.

Garry Winogrand, New York, 1962. The Garry Winogrand Archive, Center for Creative Photography, The University of Arizona. © The Estate of Garry Winogrand.

New York World’s Fair 1964. Garry Winogrand. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, gift of Dr. L. F. Peede, Jr. © The Estate of Garry Winogrand, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco.

Garry Winogrand, New York World’s Fair, 1964. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, gift of Dr. L. F. Peede, Jr. © The Estate of Garry Winogrand.

Richard Nixon Campaign Rally, New York [Rassemblement de campagne de Richard Nixon, New York], 1960. Garry Winogrand. Garry Winogrand Archive, Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona. © The Estate of Garry Winogrand, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco

Garry Winogrand, Richard Nixon Campaign Rally, New York, 1960. Garry Winogrand Archive, Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona. © The Estate of Garry Winogrand.


Sara Dolfi Agostini

A curator and journalist, she lives between Italy and the United States, but often changes course to visit museums, biennials and artists’ studios. Specializing in contemporary art and photography, she is a member of the Milan Triennale’s advisory board. Sara co-curated the public art project ArtLine Milano and wrote the book Collezionare Fotografia (2010, with Denis Curti). She has been contributing to Il Sole 24 Ore since 2008.


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