The Quotidian Carnival: Diane Arbus in Print
DIANE ARBUS
Kadist Art Foundation
http://www.kadist.org/
Until 8 February 2009
On the walls of this exhibition one meets trannys, strippers, celebrities and their look-alikes, circus performers, giants, and motor gangs – Arbus’ photographic treatment of each like a loving glimpse into a twisted carnival. Placing this American artist’s famously despondent photographs in their published context, this exhibition is the first French retrospective of Arbus’ work since the Centre Pompidou’s in 1980. Instead of displaying original photographic prints, the exhibition features an archival collection of her work as published on the pages of magazines. While this format doesn’t have as great a visual impact as would original photographic prints, it does allow the viewer to better understand the development of Arbus’ style and her public reception. From the contextualization of these photographs, it becomes apparent that Arbus always imbued a given subject with her own melancholic air. Even when documenting the most quotidian lives Arbus managed to capture disenchantment in her subjects’ faces and her compositions are consistently disjointed and unsettling – providing insight into the psyche of this ill-fated artist.