Joel Meyerowitz: Conversations | Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York

NEW YORK – An exhibition of work spanning six decades by acclaimed photographer Joel Meyerowitz will be on view at Howard Greenberg Gallery from April 20 through June 7, 2024. Chosen by the artist, Joel Meyerowitz: Conversations presents pairings of photographs from 1963 through 2015 that focus on similar images and themes. The show coincides with and provides a counterpoint to a museum exhibition at Tate Modern through November 3, 2024, and the recent publication of a book, Joel Meyerowitz: A Question of Color (Thames and Hudson, January 2024). An opening reception will be held on April 20 from 3-5 p.m.

Joel Meyerowitz is renowned for his fundamental role in the establishment of color photography as a fine art. His work has appeared in over 350 exhibitions in museums and galleries around the world and has impacted and influenced countless artists. The Tate exhibition and the new book pair Meyerowitz’s color work with his black and white images created moments apart with two different cameras. Those pairings gave Meyerowitz the idea for his fifth exhibition at Howard Greenberg Gallery. Joel Meyerowitz: Conversations focuses on how specific color images in juxtaposition speak to each other and give added meaning for contemplation, both engaging the viewer in the act of looking and offering a challenging invitation to decipher the connections.

Whether comparing and contrasting the studios of Cézanne and Morandi, the camel coats and the steam rising in New York City with the haze amidst the trees in Yosemite National Park, the summertime Americana of flags and flowers on Cape Cod, or the languid pulchritude of Florida, Meyerowitz surveys ten pairs of related photographs, pointing out relationships, sometimes subtle, that exist in subject, tone, and color.

Additionally, the show presents six unique dye sublimation prints from the first ever museum exhibition devoted to digital printing technology at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1994. These prints are permanent and display a uniquely beautiful color palette not unlike traditional dye transfer prints.

“At 84, Joel Meyerowitz continues to be one of the greatest and most productive American photographers,” says Howard Greenberg. “He startles us with his enormous career as not only one of the seminal photographers in the history of color photography, but as a significant voice and influencer for our field. Joel leaves no stone unturned in his endless search for images and ideas in photography. His universal popularity is a testament to how many lives he has touched with his work and his teachings.”

ABOUT JOEL MEYEROWITZ

Joel Meyerowitz was born in New York City in 1938. He began his career in the 1960s as a street photographer after a chance encounter with Robert Frank. His first book, Cape Light, published in 1979, is considered a classic work of color photography and has sold more than 100,000 copies. He is the author of more than 50 books, including Joel Meyerowitz: A Question of Color (Thames and Hudson, January 2024). In the wake of 9/11, as the only photographer given official access to Ground Zero, he created the World Trade Center Archive, selections of which have toured around the world. Meyerowitz is a two-time Guggenheim fellow and a recipient of awards from both the NEA and NEH. He is winner of the Royal Photographic Society’s Centenary Award, its highest honor, and in 2012 received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Lucie Awards, an annual event honoring the greatest achievements in photography. In 2017, Meyerowitz was honored for his lifelong work with a place in the Leica Hall of Fame, described as a “magician using color” and praised for his ability to “both capture and frame the decisive moment.” His work is in the collections of many major museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Museum of Fine Art, Boston; Los Angeles County Museum of Art; and San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Meyerowitz lives and works in London.

ABOUT HOWARD GREENBERG GALLERY

Since its inception in New York more than 40 years ago, Howard Greenberg Gallery has built a vast and ever-changing collection of some of the most important photographs in the medium. The Gallery’s collection acts as a living history of photography, offering genres and styles from Pictorialism to Modernism, in addition to contemporary photography and images conceived for industry, advertising, and fashion.

Formerly a photographer and founder of The Center for Photography in Woodstock in 1977, Howard Greenberg has been one of a small group of gallerists, curators, and historians responsible for the creation and development of the modern market for photography. Howard Greenberg Gallery—founded in 1981 and originally known as Photofind—was the first to consistently exhibit photojournalism and street photography, now accepted as important components of photographic art. The Gallery is located in the Fuller Building at 41 East 57th Street, Suite 801, in New York City. The Gallery’s archive is located at 32 East 57th Street, directly across from the Fuller Building, to house, manage, and present its collection of over 40,000 prints.

Howard Greenberg Gallery

41 E 57th St 8th Floor, New York, NY 10022, United States