5 to See: This Weekend

5 to See: This Weekend

Navigating diverse communities, modernist icons and the idea of the American Dream, top picks for the beginning of November use cinematic aesthetics and candid photography to capture the essence of pivotal eras.

Blue Blanc Rouge, The Ravestijn Gallery, Amsterdam

Using the language of film to craft poetic images steeped in narrative, Christopher Anderson’s series of photographs engages with the deeply cinematic qualities of light and colour. Captured across the US, France, Italy, Spain and Germany,  the works comprise still lives, portraits and candid moments that weave wider stories. From 3 November.

Gordon Parks: The New Tide, Early Work 1940–1950, National Gallery of Art, Washington

The 1940s was a formative decade for Parks (1912-2006), within which he grew from a self-taught photographer to a visionary professional working for the likes of Ebony, Vogue, Fortune and Life. 150 images and objects demonstrate the development of a groundbreaking style that played a pivotal role in the civil rights movement.  From 4 November.

Tom Blachford: Midnight Modern IV, TOTH Gallery, New York

Blachford’s (b. 1987) photography renders functional, man-made structures into hyperreal environments that fluctuate between reality and fantasy. The final installment of his Midnight Modern series is captured using only the light of the full moon, transforming California’s iconic mid-century Modernist architecture into surreal playgrounds. Until 4 November.

Catherine Opie: The Modernist, Lehmann Maupin, New York

Opie’s (b. 1961) first photography series and accompanying film follows a fictional character – also an artist – on an arsonist spree across LA. Bringing the city’s iconic modernist buildings into focus, the piece conjures a post-apocalyptic reality that looks to the other side of the American  Dream. Until 12 January.

Janet Delaney, Public Matters, 1982-1988, Euqinom Gallery, San Francisco 

This collection of images – taken in the mid-1980s – documents the spirit of protest and parade in Reagan-era San Francisco. A celebration of multiculturalism and collective voices, the show captures the feeling of an era through nostalgic and powerful visuals. Coinciding with a book release from MACK, the images take on new meaning in the 21st century. Until 22 December.

Credits:
1. Christopher Anderson, Blue Blanc Rouge no. 19; BCN – LIS, 2017.
2. Christopher Anderson, Blue Blanc Rouge no. 11; Kunming, 2017.
3. Gordon Parks, Trapped in abandoned building by a rival gang on street, Red Jackson ponders his next move, 1948, gelatin silver print, National Gallery of Art, Washington, Corcoran Collection (The Gordon Parks Collection)
4. Tom Blachford, from Midnight Modern IV.
5. CATHERINE OPIE, Sheats-Goldstein #1 (The Modernist), 2016 © Catherine Opie. Courtesy Regen Projects, Los Angeles and Lehmann Maupin, New York, Hong Kong, and Seoul.
6. JANET DELANEY, Muni Bus, Mission Street, 1984 from Public Matters.