The exhibition Cool Objectivity at the Seattle Art Museum aims to chart the connection between German New Objectivity, (Neue Sachlichkeit), photography of the 1920s, and recent photographic practice. Small in number, the assembled constellation of works showcases the value of objectivity – as opposed to expressiveness – as a guiding principle in contemporary photography.
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- James Rosenquist, Tumbleweed, 1963-66.
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- Hiroshi Sugimoto’s Sumiyoshi House – Tadao, 1997 and Museo della Civilità Romana (Museum of Roman Civilization) – Placentini, 1998.
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- Gelatin silver prints by Albert Renger-Patzsch. Above: Soziale Frauenschule Aachen (Social School for Women), 1929-30.
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- Louise Lawler, Anonymous, 1991.
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- Doug Aitken, Untitled (Santa Barbara Offshore Platforms), 1998 (detail).
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- Candida Hofer’s Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin VI, 2001, shares a corner with Renger-Patzsch’s early 20th century prints.
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- Edward Burtynsky, Shipyard #7, Qili Port, Zhejiang Province, 2005.
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- Edward Burtynsky, Shipyard #7, Qili Port, Zhejiang Province, 2005 (detail).
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- James Rosenquist’s sculpture Tumbleweed, 1963-66, is pictured in Louise Lawler’s photograph across the gallery.
The question behind all the works in this exhibition is how photographing architecture can lay bare the cultural values inscribed within our built environment, and what it means for a photographer to adopt a position of detachment. Cool Objectivity is on view through August 16. Read full text here.
Fresh VUE contributor Emilia Mickevicius is a graduate student in the Department of the History of Art and Architecture at Brown University specializing in the history of photography and modern and contemporary art.
