Contact: Communications Department 212.857.0045 [email protected] Contact: Communications Department 212.857.0045 [email protected]
LARRY CLARK
El Salvador: Work MarchofLARRY Thirty 11 – June CLARK Photographers 5, 2005
March 11 – June 5, 2005 FIRST AMERICAN RETROSPECTIVE OF THIS INFLUENTIAL PHOTOGRAPHER AND FILMMAKER’SOn view from WORK TO BE SHOWNFIRST AT THE AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL RETROSPECTIVE CENTER OF SeptemberOF THIS PHOTOGRAPHY 16 through INFLUENTIAL PHOTOGRAPHER AND FILMMAKER’SNovember WORK 27, 2005 TO BE SHOWN AT THE INTERNATIONAL CENTER OF PHOTOGRAPHY
Media Preview: Thursday March 10, 2005, 9:30-11am Media Preview RSVP: [email protected] or 212.857.0045 September 15, 2005 Media Preview: Thursday March 10, 2005, 9:30-11am 9:30 - 11am RSVP: [email protected] or 212.857.0045 RSVP: The International Center of Photography (ICP) will present the fi[email protected] American retrospective of the work of Larry Clark, one of the most important and influential 212.857.0045 American photographers of the secondThe International half of the Center 20th century, of Photography from March (ICP) 11 throughwill present June the 5, first2005. American The exhibition, retrospective Larry Clarkof the, willwork includeSusan of Meiselas Larry the Clark,full spectrum one of of the Clark’s most work, important spanning and influentialfive decades American and as photographersmany media. of the Soldiers search bus passengers along ththe Northern Highway, 1980 second© Susan halfMeiselas/Magnum of the Photos 20 century, from March 11 through June 5, 2005. The exhibition, Larry Clark, Beginningwill include with the full his spectrum landmark of book Clark’s Tulsa work, (1971), spanning Clark five has decades produced and an as extraordinary many media. range of photographs and films. Clark’s work represents—probably better than any other photographer’s— From September 16 through November 27, 2005, the International Center of Photography (1133 theBeginning important with historical his landmark transition book from Tulsa the (1971),documentary-style Clark has produced photojournalism an extraordinary of the 1950s range to the of Avenue of the Americas at 43rd Street) will re-present an exhibition of wartime images that it first morephotographs personal and and films. investigative Clark’s workphotographic represents—probably explorations of better the 1970s than anyand other1980s. photographer’s— His early black- showed twenty-one years ago. El Salvador: Work of Thirty Photographers was exhibited at ICP in and-whitethe important photography historical transition(Tulsa) is rootedfrom the in documentary-stylethe era of W. Eugene photojournalism Smith, Robert of Frank, the 1950s and Dianeto the 1984, at the height of the civil war in that Central American country, and included the work of thirty Arbus,more personal and has and influenced investigative the work photographic of later photographers explorations ofsuch the as 1970s Nan andGoldin 1980s. and HisRichard early Princeblack- photojournalists who covered the conflict. This landmark of photojournalism remains of interest andand-white inspired photography such award-winning (Tulsa) is rootedfilms as in Taxi the Driver era of by W. Martin Eugene Scorsese, Smith, Robert Rumble Frank, Fish byand Francis Diane today not only for the quality of the work and the photographers’ committed engagement, but also FordArbus, Coppola and has and influenced Drugstore the Cowboy work of by later Gus photographers Van Sant. His such recent as independent Nan Goldin and feature Richard films Prince (such as an opportunity to reflect on parallels between photographic responses to U.S. foreign policy then asand Kids inspired, Bully such, and award-winningKen Park) show films his continuingas Taxi Driver relevance by Martin for Scorsese,contemporary Rumble audiences. Fish by Francis Fordand Coppola now. and Drugstore Cowboy by Gus Van Sant. His recent independent feature films (such Clarkas Kids is, knownBully, and for hisKen frank Park )engagement show his continuing with challenging relevance subject for contemporary matter. These audiences. subjects are an In 1979, a coup d’etat in El Salvador initiated twelve years of bloody civil strife. The subsequent integral part of his explorations of various themes in American culture: the exploitation of teenagers assassination of human-rights advocate Archbishop Oscar Romero and the murder of four U.S. inClark American is known mass for mediahis frank (teen engagement idols as pinups with challenging and sex objects); subject the matter. confusions These created subjects for are teen an churchwomen in 1980 drew world attention to the violent repression there. The Reagan viewersintegral partby images of his explorations of intense violence of various and themes sexuality; in American the responsibility culture: the borne exploitation by adults, of especiallyteenagers Administration, which sought to prevent a takeover by leftist guerillas (whom they suspected were parents,in American for themass problems media (teenfaced idols by young as pinups people; and and sex the objects); double-edged the confusions and largely created unexplored for teen aided by Cuba as well as the newly victorious leftist government of neighboring Nicaragua), aspectsviewers byof theimages construction of intense of violence masculinity and insexuality; American the culture. responsibility borne by adults, especially supported the dictatorial junta with military and economic aid throughout the early 1980s. During this parents, for the problems faced by young people; and the double-edged and largely unexplored time, right-wing death squads accounted for the murder or disappearance of some 70,000 civlians. aspects of the construction of masculinity in American culture. (over)
(over) The exhibition, which documents this conflict, was originally organized by photographers Susan Meiselas and Henry Mattison. They engaged the participation of over two dozen fellow photographers in the project, including John Hoagland, Eugene Richards, Eli Reed, and James Nachtwey. Taken between the 1979 coup and June 1983, these black-and-white photographs— startling and shocking in their explicit recording of the facts of death—interpret the internal struggles that became a war with global implications, and present an urgent portrait of the then-widespread daily violence in that country.
Recently donated in its entirety to ICP, El Salvador: Work of Thirty Photographers was first presented in 1983 as a book that included text by poet Carolyn Forché and a detailed timeline of the then- escalating conflict. After opening at ICP the following year, the project circulated extensively as a traveling exhibition, touring museums, university galleries, high schools, public libraries, and churches, creating a public forum for dialogue about the crisis and America’s role in it.
This exhibition stands as an important example of photographers working collaboratively to raise public awareness about an urgent political situation. As ICP founder Cornell Capa noted in 1984, “The photographs of El Salvador: Work of Thirty Photographers are...urgent eyewitnesses to a civil war occurring practically in our backyard. They were taken by thirty photojournalists who put their lives on the line to fulfill their assignments. Some left them there. These photographs, charged with horror and emotion, are a visual plea to stop the bloodshed and inhumanity.”
Public Program
ICP will present a panel discussion entitled Capturing Conflict: Photojournalism Over Three Decades. For more information, please call (212) 857-0001.
El Salvador: Work of Thirty Photographers is made possible with support from Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz and Gayle and Robert Greenhill. It is organized by ICP Assistant Curator Kristen Lubben.