Diane Arbus 'Affinities' (Timothy Taylor Gallery) and Irving Penn 'Cigarettes' (Hamiltons Gallery) - review
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These two exhibitions in adjacent Mayfair galleries are a fascinating pairing of incongruous American photography legends from similar eras.
While Irving Penn, like Diane Arbus, is best-known for his portraits of celebrities and the “Small Traders” of different cities, these 23 photographs of cigarette butts is a reminder of his early reputation for exquisite still-lifes. In this case, Penn picked grubby stubb-ends from Manhattan’s pavements, took them to his pristine studio and transformed them into objects of surprising beauty. Tatty butts with scorched frayed edges take on sculptural poses a decade after Claes Oldenburg’s classic plaster sculptures of the same subject. But Oldenberg’s 3-D pieces lack the human references present in Penn’s penetrating search beyond their sordid identity. Their appearance kept them free of galleries for years but they now coincide with smoking’s wane and rightly possess museum status.
Unlike Penn’s static, dead objects, Diane Arbus’ “Affinities” is a marvellous large collection of many familiar portraits spanning her career. Like Penn, she picked subjects from the streets: in her case from specific marginal sub-cultures. Her legendary eye for the outsider and her unabashed approach to the subjects make then endlessly irresistible. They always reveal new details and fresh narratives - from the ‘midgets’ and Downs’ Syndrome series, to the woman caressing a monkey, unembarrassed naked couples, or the 1969 wax models of Churchill and Elizabeth Taylor in London. They reveal much about Arbus’s skilful persuasion, her power to pose her subjects in intimate situations, and her controversial curiosity. The penetrating close-ups bring us, uneasily, to face them as if we are looking a mirror.
Two highlights of London’s current exhibitions, they are essential viewing.
Diane Arbus: Until 17 August. www.timothytaylor.gallery.com 020 7409 3344
Irving Penn: Until 17 August. www.hamiltonsgallery.com 020 7499 9493