"We are the subject" | MODEL - ARBUS - SOLOMON

"We are the subject" | MODEL - ARBUS - SOLOMON

529 W. 20th Street New York, NY 10011, USA Thursday, July 12, 2018–Saturday, September 8, 2018 Opening Reception: Thursday, July 12, 2018, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.


singer at café metropole by lisette model

Lisette Model

Singer at Café Metropole, 1946

Price on Request

coney island bather, new york (reclining) by lisette model

Lisette Model

Coney Island Bather, New York (Reclining), 1939–1941

Price on Request

sammy's bar, new york (two male singers) by lisette model

Lisette Model

Sammy's Bar, New York (Two Male Singers), 1940–1944

Price on Request

fashion show, hotel pierre, new york by lisette model

Lisette Model

Fashion Show, Hotel Pierre, New York, 1940–1946

Price on Request

Having each been the subject of solo exhibitions at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the strength of these individual voices is well acknowledged within the photographic canon. For the first time since 1977, when Lisette Model, Diane Arbus and Rosalind Fox Solomon were first exhibited together at Galerie Zabriskie, Paris, viewers will have the opportunity to experience these powerful voices speaking together once again, surrounded and confronted by over 40 original works. 

What unites these three female powerhouses in photography is not their subject matter, nor a simplistic shared vision or approach, but rather it is a passionate desire to explore their personal identities through others. In her efficacious lessons as teacher, Lisette Model declared a photographer’s subject matter to be both inherently subjective and impartial, reinforcing the dominant role of the self:                             

 “We are the subject, the object is the world around us.” 

Perhaps even more evident when presented alongside one another, their work shares a concern with extending the boundaries of the self, seeking their own humanity. Viewed almost as self-reflections, the photographs comprising this exhibition represent these artists' defiant attempts to understand the world and their place within it.