Howard Greenberg Gallery has announced its worldwide representation of Joel Meyerowitz, whose first solo show with the gallery will be a full survey of the artist’s career in two parts: November 2-December 1, 2012, and December 7, 2012-January 5, 2013. One of the foremost photographers working today, Joel Meyerowitz is renowned for his crucial role in the establishment of color photography as a fine art. His work has appeared in over 350 exhibitions in museums and galleries around the world. The exhibition coincides with the publication of a major book from Phaidon Press in November.
Joel Meyerowitz Dairyland, Provincetown, 1976. Courtesy Howard Greenberg Gallery, NYC. Copyright Joel Meyerowitz 2012.
Joel Meyerowitz Part I and Part II will feature images from the 1960s to 2011 from many of his most famous series. The exhibition includes his seminal street photography – both color and black-and-white, intimate images of American life, and landscapes exploring luminous scenes from Cape Cod to Tuscany.
Among the highlights in the exhibition will be a number of images that show the artist’s witty take on street scenes: Times Square, New York City, 1965, offers a black-and-white shot of a movie theater with a couple kissing underneath a marquee that reads “Kiss Me Stupid.” A photograph from St. Louis in 1978 depicts a rundown street corner with a sign offering “Brains 25¢.” Recent work made in Provence last year will also be on view, as well as many other images on exhibition to the public for the first time.
Coinciding with the exhibition at Howard Greenberg Gallery is the publication of the two-volume book Joel Meyerowitz: Taking My Time (Phaidon, November 1, 2012; $750, limited edition), which will feature nearly 600 photographs spanning the artist’s career, with many previously unpublished images. In addition, a museum retrospective of Meyerowitz’s work opened this spring at the Hotel des Arts in Toulon, France, and will open in Paris at the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in January 2013. Also in October Sterling Signature Books will publish Provence: Lasting Impressions with photographs by Meyerowitz and written by his wife, Maggie Barrett.
Joel Meyerowitz was born in New York City in 1938. He began his career in the 1960s as a street photographer after a chance encounter with Robert Frank. His first book, Cape Light, published in 1979, is considered a classic work of color photography and has sold more than 100,000 copies. He is the author of 17 other books, including Legacy: The Preservation of Wilderness in New York City Parks (Aperture, 2009). In the wake of 9/11, as the only photographer given official access to Ground Zero, he created the World Trade Center Archive, selections of which have toured around the world. Meyerowitz is a two-time Guggenheim fellow and a recipient of awards from both the NEA and NEH. He is a recent winner of the Royal Photographic Society’s Centenary Award, its highest honor, and this fall, for his 50 years of work, will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Lucie Awards, an annual event honoring the greatest achievements in photography. His work is in the collections of many major museums, including The Museum of Modern Art, New York; the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; and the Museum of Fine Art, Boston. Meyerowitz lives and works in New York City. – www.howardgreenberg.com
