Houk Friedman is pleased to announce the opening of the exhibition, Sally Mann: Recent Work, a much anticipated follow up to the Immediate Family exhibitions, including the 1990 premiere at Edwynn Houk Gallery and the 1992 exhibition at Houk Friedman. This exhibition will be on view from September 14 through November 4, 1995.
Mann's earlier show of family photographs established her reputation as one of the leading contemporary artists of the 90s. It introduced viewers to her three children and their idyllic lives growing up in rural Virginia. The show unveiled her extensive vocabulary of symbols, affinity for the South, and sensitivity to the sensuous details of nature. Spinning a web of fact and fiction, Mann began her exploration of family relationships, and created a place wherein the viewer reacts to the beauty and danger of her images, both truthful and imagined.
In her continuation of family photographs, we witness not only the growth of Emmett, Jessie and Virginia, but the natural maturation of a body of work which began 10 years ago. During sultry summers in Virginia, or travels elsewhere, she continues to capture their rich and complicated lives with evidence of both spontaneity and masterful composition. Mann's extraordinary talent for printing emphasizes the poetry of her explorations, and strongly asserts a specific sense of place. Once again, this body of work reveals a window through which we catch a glimpse of the intimacy that exists within their family.
However, as the dynamics change between a mother and her children coming of age, so does Mann's work reflect the emergence of a healthy and necessary separation. It is inevitable that her own personal and artistic growth would affect the outcome of these photographs, apparant in recurring attention to the beckoning Southern landscape. Within the context of a constantly evolving perspective, Mann draws us in with both lyric subtlety and unapologetic challenges. Creating images that resonate with a reverence for the cycle of life, she invites us to examine our own ideas and memories of childhood, family relationships and human emotions.
Sally Mann will be present for the opening on September 14 from 6:00 - 8:00 PM.
