In collaboration with the Fondation Moholy-Nagy, Photographic New York present Light Playthe first-ever American museum-worthy exhibition devoted to the photography and filmmaking practice of the pioneering multidisciplinary artist László Moholy-Nagy (1895-1946).
“Primarily known as a painter, we want to shed new light on Moholy-Nagy as a pioneer in image-making in his use of the camera as a new instrument of vision,” said the curator of the exhibition, Jessica Jarl, director of world exhibitions at Fotografiska. “With an interest in modern technology and change, Moholy-Nagy experimented in photography, darkroom processes and editing. The way he captured lines, shapes and light opened up new horizons at the start of the 20th century.
“The Foundation is thrilled to present Moholy-Nagy at Fotografiska Museums, reaching a new generation of art and photography enthusiasts,” said Natalia Hug, Director of the Moholy-Nagy Foundation. Daniel Hug (Natalia’s husband), who is Moholy-Nagy’s grandson and the director of Art Cologne added:
“Moholy-Nagy would have been very happy to present his work in one of the most avant-garde museums of photography, in particular with the international network that Fotografiska has set up. We are especially excited to recreate and present the large format prints that Moholy-Nagy originally envisioned nearly a hundred years ago, few of which have survived to this day.
Light Play brings together 68 works created between 1922 and 1945, including Moholy-Nagy’s early experiments with photomontage (“photoplastics,” as he called them); photograms (images made without a camera, rather via direct exposure to light on photosensitive paper); personal images taken while traveling in Europe and the United States; color photographs from the end of his career (including rare images of Moholy-Nagy himself and never-before-exhibited photographs of his own sculptures); and two movies.
A well-represented body of work in the exhibition are what Moholy-Nagy called “photoplastics:” collage-like compositions that offer social commentary, oscillating finely between obscurity and cheekiness, thanks to the integration of found images. Created in the 1920s, the tone of these photomontages shows the lasting influence of Dadaism in its practice. Basic geometric shapes, especially the circle, often appear as frameworks for the constituent arrangements of photoplastics; one such example is Olly and Dolly Sisters (1925). Seen as a whole, these minimalist compositions generate an excess of meaning through only newspaper images, photos and a few drawn lines.
In her black and white photography, Moholy-Nagy used disorienting perspective to challenge the inherently realistic qualities of the medium. It is in these works (particularly those that capture city plans and architecture) that his formal relationship to the Bauhaus and other constructivist schools is most apparent.
Another series represented in the exhibition, the photograms of Moholy-Nagy, reveal parts of the body such as the hands and the artist’s own profile; these compositions fit less well into geometric theory, giving priority instead to studies of light. Light has been a concern throughout the career of Moholy-Nagy, who in 1944 reflected that his aim was to “paint with light”. With the photogram – where objects are “painted” on light-sensitive paper by a light source and the projection of shadows – Moholy-Nagy created photographic images without a camera, by pure manipulation of light and light. ‘shadow.
German photography scholar Dr. Jeannine Fiedler, author of one of the exhibit’s texts, speculates that Moholy’s freedom from the constraints of traditional photography influenced contemporary print media, advertising aesthetics and our ways of seeing up to the present day. She says:
“New perspectives and new camera techniques were used to break through conventional vision and bring photography back to its original terrain of visual sensations. Instead of functioning solely as a documentary image of reality, photography has now found its own means of aesthetic design. In the New Vision movement, which Moholy-Nagy decisively influenced from 1925 to 1931, photographic photographs became a true expression of the innovations in the image made possible by the camera and photographic optics.
Light Play is able to offer a unique and expansive portrait of the artist because its curatorial premise is limited only by medium; a curated survey of the entire photographic oeuvre of Moholy-Nagy, edited down to the finest examples of each category. Additionally, the curators have worked closely with the artist’s estate to design unique staging opportunities that align with Moholy-Nagy’s experimental approach to lighting and form, such as custom lighting setups for stills and large-scale mapped environments for movies.
Hattula Moholy-Nagy, the artist’s daughter, said: “The Estate is delighted with the colorful staging of Fotografiska’s exhibition. We are also pleased to see the wide range of works on display, especially the inclusion of his latest color photographs and other rare images.
Natalia Hug added, “We are extremely excited to have the opportunity to showcase Moholy-Nagy’s photographic work through the global network of Fotografiska, a museum that is redefining exhibition making today. »
Moholy-Nagy: Light Play is curated by Jessica Jarl of Fotografiska’s World Exhibitions Team in collaboration with Grace Noh of Fotografiska New York and the Moholy-Nagy Foundation. Light Play will debut at Fotografiska New York before heading to Fotografiska’s other global locations.
László Moholy-Nagy: Light Play
March 11 – June 5, 2022
Photographic New York
281 Park Avenue South
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