NEW YORK, NY – The International Center of Photography (ICP) today announced January 24, 2024 as the opening date for ICP at 50: From the Collection, 1845-2019 and David Seidner: Fragments, 1977-99. Kicking off a yearlong celebration of ICP’s 50th anniversary, both exhibitions and subsequent 50th anniversary programming will highlight how ICP’s evolution parallels that of photography as a medium, as a technology, and as a powerful cultural, political, and social force.
“This year, ICP will celebrate photography as a powerful interdisciplinary art form, photographers as artists who reimagine the medium, and ICP as an institution that brings this creative medium and the public together,” said David E. Little, Executive Director of ICP. “If people thought they knew ICP before, their experience of ICP at 50 and David Seidner will redefine what they understand about ICP as an institution and as a source for exploring photography and its impact on our lives.”
ICP at 50: From the Collection, 1845-2019 will chronicle photography’s development from its origins to the present, showcasing the work of pivotal photographers including Robert Capa, Gerda Taro, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Weegee, Gordon Parks, Louise Lawler, Laurie Simmons, Lorna Simpson, Carrie Mae Weems, Susan Meiselas, Robert Mapplethorpe, Samuel Fosso, Mickalene Thomas, Jess T. Dugan, Deana Lawson, and more. The exhibition will also offer insight into the breadth and depth of ICP’s collection with historically critical images and media that include images taken of the surface of the moon by NASA in 1966, as well as activist posters from the 1980s and ‘90s groups ACT UP New York and Gran Fury.
David Seidner: Fragments, 1977-99 will be the first major survey of the photographer’s work. Known for capturing avant-garde fashion of the 1980s and 1990s by designers such as Yves Saint Laurent—with whom Seidner had an exclusive contract with at age 22— and Madame Grès, Seidner was also a prolific editorial photographer for publications such as Harper’s Bazaar, Harper’s & Queen, The New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, and international editions of Vogue.
In addition to commercial and editorial work, Seidner was committed to his own practice. The exhibition will present lesser-known highlights including his early fine art photography and fragmented portrait studies, images of groundbreaking dancers and choreographers, portraits of well-known contemporary artists and their studios, and from his final project, abstracted studies of orchids. Seidner was also a frequent contributor to BOMB Magazine as a photographer, interviewer, and guest editor and his key early role at this important publication will be featured.
Though Seidner’s work has largely faded from view since his passing from AIDS-related illnesses in 1999, the exhibition will present the complexity of Seidner’s work and career, his vibrant fashion and editorial photography as well as his own artistic experimentations and his documentation of the New York art world. The work on view will be drawn predominantly from Seidner’s archive, which has been a part of ICP’s collection since 2001 but has been rarely exhibited.
“Even though he photographed with and for the leading fashion designers of his time, Seidner was an artist who made work no matter where it appeared or how it circulated,” said Elisabeth Sherman, ICP’s Senior Curator and Director of Exhibitions and Collections. “This survey introduces Seidner’s practice and represents ICP’s willingness to engage with photographers as artists whose art is not as easily categorized as others, causing it to often go under acknowledged or unappreciated. We are proud to present the first comprehensive survey of Seidner’s work.”
“Photography featured this year reinforce how photographers are the historians of their and our times. They challenge us to confront questions about who we are as individuals and as a society, and who we want to be,” Executive Director Little said. “ICP at 50 and David Seidner celebrate ICP’s commitment to the great diversity, accessibility, and complexity of image making, and how as an institution, we will continue to follow its many emerging forms and its ongoing impact on human experience. We invite the public to join us in this celebration as we continue to shape the present and future of photography and ICP together.”
ICP at 50: From the Collection, 1845-2019, is curated by Elisabeth Sherman, ICP Senior Curator and Director of Exhibitions and Collections; Sara Ickow, ICP Senior Manager, Exhibitions and Collections; and Haley Kane, ICP Coordinator, Exhibitions and Collections.
David Seidner: Fragments, 1977-99 is curated by Elisabeth Sherman, ICP Senior Curator and Director of Exhibitions and Collections,