Visages of the Woman
28.06 - 27.09.2015
Museum of Contemporary Art, Andros
Man Ray
Visages of the Woman
28.06 - 27.09.2015
The temporary exhibition that was presented in the summer of 2015 by the Basil and Elise Goulandris Foundation at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Andros was thematic, dedicated to the multifarious Man Ray (1890-1976) and his depictions of the “visages of the Woman”.
The eminent American artist began his artistic career as a painter and later became involved with photography to which he largely owes his fame. His creative output also included sculpture, engraving, film and the making of objects created by his inventive imagination.
According to André Breton (1896-1966), his friend and collaborator in the great Surrealist movement, Man Ray was among the few who managed through the art of the lens to elevate circumstantial themes which fascinate, surprise and astonish leaving none indifferent.
The Woman, anonymous or celebrity, successful or unsung, muse or mistress, the creation even of the artist’s imagination is immortalized and elevated into the dominant figure by every means and way throughout his creative course.
Visitors navigated through Man Ray’s impressive artistic career that spans over fifty years (1912-1971), through 150 works of all types: photographs, paintings, engravings, drawings, sculptures and ready-mades. They recognized legendary personalities such as Gertrude Stein, Peggy Guggenheim, Kiki de Montparnasse, Lee Miller, Coco Chanel, Ava Gardner, Catherine Deneuve and other popular figures from the art and entertainment worlds and the Parisian jet set. Visitors also appreciated how the surrealist movement played a defining role in Man Ray’s art, through the revelation of works that have been overshadowed by his photography.
This visual homage was accompanied by a 350-page trilingual catalogue (Greek, English, French).
Exhibition Catalog
Man Ray, Visages of the Woman
2015 Exhibition Catalogue
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Published
2015
About
[…] It is a comprehensive narrative based on a very clever device: we get to know Man Ray the artist through Man Ray the lover. Not voyeuristically but humanly and emotionally. […]
[…] Despite Katrine Deneuve’s unique beauty, Coco Chanel’s portraits are the ‘real show-stoppers’. Two photo shoots, in 1930 and 1935, and the second in particular, helped create her myth. […]
The unpredictable Mr Man Ray, his sensual muses and his most honourable friends Duchamp, Breton, Cocteau, Picasso sailed into the Chora of Andros on Saturday night. […]
