RICHARD AVEDON AT GAGOSIAN GALLERY
The exhibit: May 4 through July 27, 2012, at 522 West 21 Street, New York
The catalog: Avedon: Murals & Portraits (Gagosian/Abrams, $100)
An Avedon portrait is instantly recognizable; and as a fashion photographer and as a chronicler of political and cultural figures, he had few peers. Between 1969 and 1971, Avedon created four gigantic photo murals (between 20 and 35 feet wide), each of a charged subject: The Chicago Seven; the members of the Mission Council in Saigon—“the eleven men who ran the Vietnam War”; Andy Warhol and the film stars of his Factory; and the extended Allen Ginsberg family (including his father, poet Louis Ginsberg). These murals are the centerpiece of the exhibit, and are surrounded by related portraits from the era, such as the iconic Dorothy Day. The beautifully printed catalog includes working prints, magazine layouts, contact prints, and four-paneled foldouts of the murals. Very informative essays by historian Louis Menand (on the Chicago 7); journalist William Shawcross (on Vietnam), Corcoran curator Paul Roth, and Ginsberg authority Bob Rubin are vital contextual contributions, and photo historian Mary Panzer’s essay, “State of Emergency,” immerses you in Avedon’s work in the 1960s and 1970s.
