Third Photography Exhibit: 'John Stezaker' at Kemper Art Museum

Rarely does St Louis have a confluence of photography exhibits. Currently in their "run times". All three are well worth seeing.

Rarely does this blogger purchase catalogues from art exhibits. The exhibit of Monet's Waterlilies here in 1978 and of Rembrandt's Woodblocks at the Chicago Art Institute some years ago come readily to mind. The current (01/27-04/23/2012) photography exhibit, "John Stezaker", at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum was so intriguing as to prompt its catalogue purchase.

John Stezaker (British, b. 1949) takes photos from the first half of the twentieth century and creates collages. He currently lives and works in London, U.K. He has exhibited In Edinburgh, New York, England (The Tate Museum), and the Venice Biennale (1982).

The catalogue describes how Stezaker makes a single cut or readjustment of images. Further that "these combinations of disparate components create unexpected connections through visual rhymes and metaphors, encouraging the viewer to explore the ways in which common photographic images touch a shared unconscious of dreams, impulses, and projections."

Stezaker calls his image selection an "encounter". The catalogue characterizes his work as invoking "a liminal space or existence that invites the viewer to take the role of a third person, someone who is both party to an event and objectified or distant from it."

There were too many "favorites" to describe in this blog. The stills from old Hollywood movies and television series (Holy Toledo, Batman and Robin) are cut and re-assembled in especially jarring ways. The catalogue is for sale during the exhibition and also available on-line at http://www.ridinghouse.co.uk/publications/49/ .

The Mildred Lane Kemper Museum is on the campus of Washington University and is free (except for parking). It is open daily 11-6 (except Tuesday) and open til 8:00p.m. on Friday. Just a few blocks from the Metrolink Station, it is an exhibit worth seeing!