Peter Hujar. 5 December January Written by Tobias Billing and Emily Candela

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Peter Hujar. 5 December January Written by Tobias Billing and Emily Candela"

Stanley Knight
5 years ago
Views:

1 Peter Hujar 5 December January Written by Tobias Billing and Emily Candela

2 ICA Education Programme Our dynamic, artist-led Education Programme provides opportunities for schools, families and community groups to engage in creative ways with the ICA s exhibitions. The gallery is open for school visits between 10am and 12pm, Monday Friday. This pack is geared towards secondary school students pursuing Key Stages 3 and 4. Teachers may find it useful to visit the exhibitions before bringing a group. If you would like to plan a trip to the ICA, get in touch and find out how we can meet the needs of your group. What We Do Artist Led Projects: Our programme includes artist-led workshops with schools and innovative collaborations between artists and community groups. Teachers Packs: These are available with each exhibition and include exhibition notes, suggested discussion points and activities for your visit, how to prepare before attending the exhibition and proposed activities for the classroom. Insets: The ICA offers professional development sessions for teachers as an opportunity to meet with artists and gallery staff, and discuss how to incorporate contemporary art into young people s education. Contact Emma-Jayne Taylor, Director of Learning: phone: +44 (0) emma-jayne.taylor@ica.org.uk For more information and to view our archive of previous learning activities, please visit Schools Mailing List: Keep up to date with the exciting education projects, events and workshops happening at the ICA by signing up for our mailing list. Educators Openings: These private views are dedicated to education resources and offer ideas for your pupils visit to the ICA. Come as a teacher or as yourself to enjoy a relaxing evening in the gallery. 2 3

Peter Hujar This is the first UK retrospective of the photographer Peter Hujar (1934 87). He chronicled New York s cultural avant-garde and gay culture during the 1970s and early 1980s.

3 Peter Hujar This is the first UK retrospective of the photographer Peter Hujar ( ). He chronicled New York s cultural avant-garde and gay culture during the 1970s and early 1980s. Hujar began his career in fashion photography, but in the early 1970s began photographing male nudes and figures from the drag performance scene, such as the cult icon Divine. His photographs also portray members of the literary elite, animals and the night time streets of Downtown Manhattan. The photographs are all black and white, and are often shot at night or in low light. Hujar frequently merges themes of death with celebrity and portraiture. In 1976 he published Portraits in Life and Death, in which his images of New York s luminaries were supplemented by photographs from the catacombs of Palermo. This exhibition shows how Hujar addressed social issues of the time, particularly in relation to the city s gay community. His photographs provide a window into a grittier New York than the one we might think of today. Hujar is an important influence for photographers Nan Goldin and Robert Mapplethorpe. The artist lived and worked within the East Village cultural community he photographed until his death, from AIDS, in All images copyright The Peter Hujar Archive. Courtesy Matthew Marks Gallery, New York. Leroy Street,

4 Themes: Theme Art And Design Key Stage 3 Links to units in Key Stage 3 Art And Design Key Stage 4 1. Exploring and developing ideas: Art And Design Unit 8B: Evaluate images: Respond to work Photography Analyse the conventions of a visual Animating art in the context of the history of its tradition, and discuss what defines medium. photography as an art form. 2. Exploring and developing ideas: Art And Design Unit 7A: Self-image Understanding context: Respond Scenes and Analyse the culture associated with imaginatively to the work of other Avant-garde Communities different genres and movements. artists and their corresponding Investigating and making: cultures. Select appropriate materials to Develop and Explore: How can media communicate visually. be used for documentation? 3. Evaluating and Developing: Analyse Art And Design Unit 7A: Self-image Evaluate images: Identity & Costume ideas used by the artist and the Respond to the narrative and message methods he used to communicate in the work. How is it achieved? them. 4. Exploring and developing ideas: History Unit 7: Images of an age Evaluate images: The Nude Using an artistic vocabulary, compare Compare the effect of works generated different genres and styles, their Art and design Unit 9A: Life events by different cultures and time periods effect on the viewer and how they as well as the products of different communicate values. media. 5. Knowledge and understanding: Art and design Unit 9A: Life events Respond: Death Analyse the artwork exploring how Citizenship Unit 09: The significance What kind of effect (emotionally or images can have an emotional or of the media in society politically) can an image have? social impact. 6 7

1. Photography From its development in the mid 19th Century to its proliferation in today s society, photography has changed the way we see the world. Do you think of Photography as an art-form?

This trend became known as pictorialism, and the images were in soft-focus, often sentimental, and appear staged and unrealistic. Can you see any similarities to early Pictorial photography?

5 1. Photography From its development in the mid 19th Century to its proliferation in today s society, photography has changed the way we see the world. Do you think of Photography as an art-form? Is an art photograph different to a camera-phone snapshot? The word photography comes from the Greek words for light and drawing. The first photographers often imitated painting styles. This trend became known as pictorialism, and the images were in soft-focus, often sentimental, and appear staged and unrealistic. Can you see any similarities to early Pictorial photography? During the 20th century, at the time Peter Hujar lived and worked, photography became recognised as an art form in its own right, and was becoming accepted in the art world and gallery system. Peter Hujar s work is exclusively black and white, which is typical of art photography of the time, while colour was associated with amateur photography. This has since changed (during the late 1980 s and 1990 s) with artists often deliberately using a snapshot style. Do you think you would feel differently about these photographs and the people or places in them if they were in colour? Can you imagine a photograph you ve taken exhibited in a gallery? Ethyl Eichelberger as Dead Gull, 1985 Auntie Belle Emme, 1979 More To Look At The Photographers Gallery: Nan Goldin: Robert Mapplethorpe: Roland Barthes Camera Lucida: Jean Baudrillard Photography, Or The Writing Of Light: 8 9

2. scenes and avant-garde communities: The subject of much of Hujar s work is New York s East Village scene that he lived among in the 1970s and early 1980s.

6 2. scenes and avant-garde communities: The subject of much of Hujar s work is New York s East Village scene that he lived among in the 1970s and early 1980s. It included artists, drag queens and other performers, filmmakers and writers. They are referred to as an avantgarde, because they pushed the boundaries of their media and experimented with innovative forms of expression. Imagine you are part of a creative community. What kind of role would you play? Chose 4 people from history or the present who would be part of your scene. They can be musicians, artists, scientists, explorers, writers or anyone who you think would make your scene interesting. Back at school Put together a journal documenting a community you are a part of. You can use any media, such as photography, drawing and collage. Andy Warhol (III) What do you think defines a scene? More To Look At Avant- garde: Andy Warhol: Groups of artists living in the same city often influence each other, become friends and socialise in the same places like favourite cafes. In 1920, many artists who were part of the Dada movement moved to Paris. Artists like Marcel Duchamp and Man Ray, as well as composers, poets and writers contributed to a vibrant creative community. They even worked together on manifestos, demonstrations and theatrical performances. Follow this link to see a portrait by Man Ray of Marcel Duchamp (as his alter ego Rose Sélavy):

3.Identity & Costume Many of Hujar s photographs feature performers who dress in drag. Their costumes indicate one gender identity while some of their features hint at another.

7 3.Identity & Costume Many of Hujar s photographs feature performers who dress in drag. Their costumes indicate one gender identity while some of their features hint at another. Think of a time you made an effort to change your identity in some way. Did you use a costume or change your clothing or hairstyle? More often than not the performers are only partially in costume. The portraits play on this uncertainty, perhaps implying the sitters are between identities. Do Hujar s photographs seem to assign one identity over another to the sitters? More To Look At Divine: John Waters: Divine,

4. The Nude Hujar is known for his sensual photographs of male nudes and portraits of partially clothed transsexuals and gay performance icons. Do you think these photographs are sexual?

8 4. The Nude Hujar is known for his sensual photographs of male nudes and portraits of partially clothed transsexuals and gay performance icons. Do you think these photographs are sexual? His nudes are often in classical poses, but they are otherwise very different from traditional nudes. First of all, they are photographs rather than paintings. Secondly, instead of females painted by men, here the subject matter is the gay male photographed by another man. Are photographs of nudes more shocking than paintings? Why do we feel uncomfortable when naked? Comparison: In 1989 a group of artists called the Guerilla Girls plastered posters across New York with the following text: Do women have to be naked to get into the Metropolitan Museum of Art? Less than five percent of the artists in the Modern Arts section are women, but 85 percent of the nudes are female. Is it more unusual to see a male nude than it is to see a female nude? Do you think portraits in a traditional gallery or those done by Hujar more realistic? Bruce de Saint Croix (Standing), 1976 Since the 1960 s, performance artists have used their bodies often naked to express ideas and create art. How can you use your body to say something? Follow this link to see the Guerrilla Girls poster: posters/getnaked.shtml More To Look At Diego Velázquez, The Toilet of Venus: woa/wa/work?worknumber=ng2057 Titian, Venus of Urbino:

5. Death This exhibition features Hujar s pictures from the catacombs of Palermo, images of dead animals and his famous photograph of performer Candy Darling, star of numerous Andy Warhol films, on

9 5. Death This exhibition features Hujar s pictures from the catacombs of Palermo, images of dead animals and his famous photograph of performer Candy Darling, star of numerous Andy Warhol films, on her deathbed. Celebrities are often thought to be immortalised by photographs. But Hujar makes connections between fame, portraiture and death. When writing about his work, Susan Sontag said Photography [ ] converts the whole world into a cemetery. What do you think this statement means? Andy Warhol was a part of the East Village artistic community that Hujar photographed. He was fascinated by the way both death and celebrity were portrayed in modern culture. He painted a Death and Disaster series depicting car accidents, suicide, riots and electric chairs. Follow this link to see Warhol s Orange Car Crash Fourteen Times from 1963: %3AWarhol&page_number=22&template_id=1&sort_order=1&printable=1 Is there a difference between seeing images of famous people dying and similar images of people who are not famous? Candy Darling on her Deathbed, 1974 Do any of the photographs make you feel sad or uncomfortable? 16 17

More To Look At: Susan Sontag, Regarding the Pain of Others: http://www.susansontag.com/regardingpain.htm Activity ideas in the Gallery Peter Hujar photographs several different kinds of subjects.

10 More To Look At: Susan Sontag, Regarding the Pain of Others: Activity ideas in the Gallery Peter Hujar photographs several different kinds of subjects. How many can you list? Bearing in mind the differences among Hujar s subjects, does the work look like it is by the same artist? Can you think of 3 words that can be used to describe all of the work? Looking at the portraits, find 5 different poses. Then, in a group, draw them or act them out: a.see if anyone can guess which photograph you are acting out. b.come up with words to describe the poses, how they make you feel, what they communicate. (Try and do this without using the words sitting, standing, lying down.) Goat, Westown, 1978 Before/after your visit Using only two colours, make a portrait of a classmate. Or Using photography or drawing, make a portrait of a classmate pretending to be someone else. This could be someone famous, someone you know, or someone imagined

Peter Hujar s Gay Lower East Side: Out of the Shadows

Peter Hujar s Gay Lower East Side: Out of the Shadows By RENA SILVERMAN Jan. 23, 2017 Cockette John Rothermel in Fashion Pose, 1971. The Peter Hujar Archive/Courtesy of Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York,