PRESS RELEASE The Center for Photography at Woodstock 59 Tinker Street, Woodstock, NY 12498 845/679-9957, [email protected]
Grace Slick, Woodstock Festival, Bethel, NY, 1969. Photo by ©Elliott Landy
Exhibition News ELLIOTT LANDY: THE SPIRIT OF A GENERATION June 29 – September 2, 2019 Opening Reception & Lecture: Saturday, June 29 at 4pm
The Center for Photography at Woodstock is pleased to announce the exhibition Elliott Landy: The Spirit of a Generation featuring Elliott Landy and his seminal photographs from the Woodstock Music Festival in 1969. As the official photographer of the festival, Landy documented the spirit of music, freedom and abandon that permeated the festival. The exhibition was guest curated by Charles Guice. In addition to featuring Landy’s iconic pho- tographs from the festival, the exhibition also showcases the political climate of the 1960s with photographs contrasting nationwide demonstrations for peace and abortion rights with the bucolic setting of musicians like Bob Dylan and The Band, who had come to live in Woodstock. The festival, which swelled from the anticipated 50,000 attendees to a record-setting 450,000, took place in Bethel, NY, on August 15-18, 1969 and drew iconic performers such as Joan Baez, Richie Havens, the Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix, the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and The Band. Shooting 76 rolls of film, Landy captured the festival from the empty fields as the stage was being built to the unforgettable cultural spectacle that after 50 years still remains unmatched in its societal resonance and impact. ABOUT THE ARTIST: Best known for his iconic rock photographs from the 1960s, ELLIOTT LANDY was one of the first music photographers to be recognized as an “artist”. His work has included portraits and album covers of Bob Dylan (Nashville Skyline), The Band (Music From Big Pink and The Band), Janis Joplin (Big Brother & The Holding Company and Cheap Thrills), Van Morrison (Moondance), as well as cele- brated images of Joan Baez, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Richie Havens, and many other legendary bands, singers, and musicians. Landy’s photographs of Dylan and The Band during the years they re- sided and recorded in Woodstock, and his coverage of the 1969 Woodstock Music Festival, which he served as the festival’s official photographer, captured the attention of a new culture seeking spiritual and artistic freedom. Fifty years later, Landy’s seminal images have become synonymous with the town, the famed festival, and the utopian spirit of the Woodstock generation. Joe Cocker’s band (The Grease Band), Woodstock Festival, Bethel, NY, 1969. Photo by ©Elliott Landy
Since the 1960s, Elliott Landy’s photographs have been exhibited throughout the United States and abroad, including the Whitney Museum, the Tate Liverpool, and the Norton Museum of Art. His work has been published in countless American as well as international magazines and newspapers including The New York Times, Le Monde, Rolling Stone, Life, Vanity Fair, and the Saturday Evening Post. Landy is the author of eight books including Woodstock 1969: The First Festival, Dylan in Woodstock, and Woodstock Vision: The Spirit of a Generation. His latest monograph, The Band Photographs: 1968-1969, was published in 2015. In 2016, Landy created LandyVision, a new, interactive music and video app. The tool allows users to blend still and video imagery with music to create a new form of musical and visual experience. A native of New York, he was born in 1942. Landy graduated from the Bronx High School of Sci- ence and earned his degree from Baruch College. Represented worldwide by Magnum Photos, Getty, and several additional photo agencies, he lives in Woodstock with his wife, Lynda.
ABOUT THE FESTIVAL: Fifty years ago, on August 15, 1969, the Woodstock Music & Art Fair opened on a 600-acre dairy farm in Bethel, New York. Advertised as “An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace and Music”, the now iconic rock festival featured thirty-two performers—including Joan Baez, Richie Havens, the Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix, the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and The Band—who have gone on to become some of the most celebrated artists in American music history. Originally estimated for 50,000, despite large crowds, torrential rainstorms, and muddy fields, the festival eventually swelled to more than 450,000 people, an event which has become synonymous with the 60s counterculture movement. “…You’ve proven something to the world… the important thing that you’ve proven to the world is that a half a million kids, and I call you kids because I have children who are older than you are, a half a million young people can get together and have three days of fun and music and have nothing but fun and music and God bless you for it!” Max Yasgur, owner of the farm where the 1969 Woodstock festival was held Before the Rain, Woodstock Festival, Bethel, NY, 1969. Photo by ©Elliott Landy
ABOUT CPW: Founded in 1977, the Center for Photography at Woodstock is an artist-centered nonprofit orga- nization dedicated to supporting artists working in photography and related media and engaging audiences through opportunities in which creation, discovery, and learning are made possible. Special thanks to our exhibition sponsor Canson Infinity. CPW received additional exhibition support from the New York Council on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Art, the Warhol Foundation, Joy of Giving Something, our members and other supporters.
EXHIBITION SCHEDULE AND LOCATION: The solo exhibition Elliott Landy: The Spirit of a Generation is shown in conjunction with two other exhibitions, Woodstock Squared, an exhibi- tion fundraiser featuring over 50 different artists, and Woodstock AIR: Altered, featuring artists who have participated in CPW’s artist-in-residence program. The exhibitions will be on view through September 2, 2019. CPW galleries are free & open to the public, Thursday - Sunday, 12 noon - 5pm and by ap- pointment. Please note that special hours apply during the holidays. Educational tours are avail- able upon request. CPW is located at 59 Tinker Street, Woodstock, New York 12498.
All image are copyrighted by Elliott Landy and are not in the public domain. Press images are available upon request. Janis Joplin, Woodstock Festival, Bethel, NY, 1969. Photo by ©Elliott Landy