SY KATTELSON
2017-01-16Many of the images in the exhibition were taken on the streets of New York, where Kattelson captured his subjects in the gritty urban environment. His portraits often show a moment of introspection or contemplation.
As Sy Kattelson states, “I try to be as unobtrusive as possible, looking for those moments when people are focused in on themselves. And I try to find settings where this inwardness is contrasted by the dynamics of the city, by taxi cabs rushing past, by advertisements, the perspective of the street, and by the other people in the same space, everyone in their own thoughts.”
Despite differences in technique, a similar vision can be seen, even among those photographs taken 35 years apart. A link is evident between Man With Cane, 1950, where the image is divided by store windows, and 14th Street, 1953, where the break is caused by the frame between two adjacent negatives. A similar composition shows up in work from the 1980s and 90s, such as Bus, Line, People, 1990, a double exposure, and Untitled (street and shadows), 1990, a diptych with reflections. In each photograph, the people framed by the network that the city creates.
Among the images not made in New York is one of a woman selling fruit in Mexico in 1956 showing Kattelson’s playful geometry, capturing numerous diagonal lines surrounding his sensitive portrait. Another depicts a pair of women with white gloves, pearls, and proper handbags warily watching New Yorkers getting off a bus in Provincetown, Massachusetts, in 1950.
Opposite – 14th street, 1953
Exhibition runs through to February 11th, 2017
Howard Greenberg Gallery
41 East 57 Street
Suite 1406
New York
NY 10022
