Thursday, March 27, 2025

AA Bronson and Eve Sonneman

These two photographs, part of a rotating display of works from the collection at the Art Institute of Chicago, speak to my recent images which include mirrors and paired images.

General Idea (AA Bronson) - Mirror Sequences (1969)

General Idea (AA Bronson), Mirror Sequences (1969)
Art Institute Chicago, Photography and Media, Gallery 10

Discussion by AA Bronson: 

In 1968, when I began taking self-portraits, I was concerned with the body: more specifically, with my body, and with my body in relation to my friends' bodies. I had no other way to measure the world. Lacking an identity, or any way to judge my separation from others, I began with my physical self. This would later prove inadequate, but it was a beginning. 

http://users.rcn.com/aamark/mirrormirror/lookingglass/mirror1.htm

Mirror Sequences wall text in Gallery 10: 

In 1968, when I began taking self-portraits, I was concerned with the body: more specifically, with my body, and with my body in relation to my friends' bodies. I had no other way to measure the world. Lacking an identity, or any way to judge my separation from others, I began with my physical self...

-AA Bronson, 2002

Mirror Sequences is a self-portrait in which a convex mirror reflects and multiplies a fragmented body. The photograph was taken by AA Bronson and is credited to General Idea, an artist collective founded in 1969 by Bronson, Felix Partz (Canadian, 1945-1994), and Jorge Zontal (Italian, 1944-1994). General Idea would go on to create parodies of the art world and consumer culture and respond forcefully to the AIDS epidemic.

Eve Sonneman, Dusk (1979)

Eve Sonneman, Dusk (1976)
Art Institute of Chicago, Photography and Media, Gallery 10

Dusk wall text in Gallery 10:

To create this diptych, Eve Sonneman paired two images, taken moments apart, of tourists on an observation deck.

Their shadows, as well as the photographer's, loom large and draw attention to the darkening of the sky in the moment between the frames. By displaying images shot in rapid succession, Sonneman challenged the notion of the "decisive moment," a reigning idea in mid-century photography according to which the best picture is the one that entirely sums up a scene in a single instant. Instead, Sonneman suggests that photography can reveal time to be arbitrary and mutable, never fully frozen by the camera.

Tuesday, March 25, 2025

On A Walk Today

Larry Wolf, Roots and Rocks (2025)

Larry Wolf, Reflections (2025)

Larry Wolf, Reflections (2025)

Larry Wolf, Reflections (2025)

Thursday, March 13, 2025

Haunted

Larry Wolf, Haunted (2025)

Thursday, March 6, 2025

Crack

Larry Wolf, Cup (2025)

Larry Wolf, Cup (2025)

Larry Wolf, Cup (2025)

Thursday, February 27, 2025

A Year in Zines - 2024

Larry Wolf, A Year in Zines 2024 (2025)

I realized that most of these have not made it to my blog, so here's a very quick recap.

A Glimpse of History

Larry Wolf, March on Washington 1979 (2024)

Larry Wolf, March on Washington 1979 (2024)

After the 2024 election, I needed a reminder that I have lived in rough times. It's not new. So this zine of images from the 1979 March on Washington for LGBTQ Rights. Images from my archive. I was also there in 1987 and 1993. 

Within The Canon

Larry Wolf, In Conversation 2024 (2025)

For several months in 2024, Gallery 293 at the Art Institute was filled with works by queer artists who lived in New York in the 1970s, 80s and 90s. I learned of their cross-connections through my own research. These five zines, In Conversation, put me in dialogue with the artists: Greer Langton, David Wojnarowicz, Zoe Leonard, Martin Wong, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, and others. There's a separate page about my explorations

Enfants Terribles

Larry Wolf, Enfants Terribles 2024 (2025)

Arthur Rimbaud and David Wojnarowicz shook things up in their time and for decades after. They lived almost exactly 100 years apart. Now together in a zine (and this earlier blog post).

A Summer Afternoon

Larry Wolf, Summer in Vermont 2024 (2025)

More from the archive and also a risograph version. We were young once, and in our hearts, always.

Dual Lens

Larry Wolf, Dual Lens 2024 (2025)

I've been exploring making images with a lens intended for 3D. I'm captivated by how the two lenses make a pair of overlapping images, the right and left sides similar and different. This is the first zine to hold those images. More are in the works (see also Dual Lens).

Wednesday, February 5, 2025

Compositional Sketch in Sumi Ink

Larry Wolf, Water and Ink (2025)

Larry Wolf, Water and Ink (2025)

Tuesday, February 4, 2025

Compositional Sketches














Larry Wolf, Sketches (2025)