Palermo Catacombs #10 (Girl with Flowers) – Art Blart

Exhibition dates: 13th May – 9th October 2023

Curators: Grace Deveney, David C. and Sarajean Ruttenberg Associate Curator, Photography and Media

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Nude Self-Portrait Series #5
1967
Pigmented ink print
© The Peter Hujar Archive / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY

What can I say … more from that ecstatic photographer Peter Hujar. One of my top ten photographers of all time.

I can’t get enough of his uncomplicated, fleeting photographs of people who have the bravery to be themselves. Photographs that haunt my memory.

A big thank you to Nick Henderson for allowing me to use the photographs that he took of the exhibition in the posting.

Dr Marcus Bunyan

Many thankx to the Art Institute of Chicago for allowing me to publish some of the photographs in the posting. Please click on the photographs for a larger version of the image. All installation images courtesy of and with thankx to Nick Henderson.

Installation view of the exhibition Peter Hujar: Performance and Portraiture at the Art Institute of Chicago showing Hujar’s Nude Self-Portrait Series #5 (1967, above)
Photo: Nick Henderson

While photography has long been associated with documentation and memory, Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987) sought to produce images that construct a new reality through subtle exchanges between himself and his subjects. He created direct yet enigmatic portraits of people and animals, pictures of performers, and sexually charged male nudes. These were influenced by various dimensions of his experience, including a childhood spent on his grandparents’ farm, a lifelong interest in dance and theatre, and his identity as a gay man.

In the early 1970s Hujar lived in a loft in downtown Manhattan, amid numerous performers, choreographers, and playwrights who were exploring new approaches to representation. Operating in modes ranging from experimental dance to drag, they challenged the distinction between art and everyday life. Hujar created portraits of many members of these creative communities, and his work embodies the same sense of experimentation that his subjects pursued in their live and performance.

Hujar sought not to document a person or moment but instead to create a reality that exists only within the photograph. This exhibition connects these new realities with the worlds their subjects were making through performance. In keeping with the spirit of collaboration and exchange that typified the downtown New York scene, this exhibition also includes artwork by some of those in his circle.

Wall text from the exhibition

Installation view of the exhibition Peter Hujar: Performance and Portraiture at the Art Institute of Chicago showing Hujar’s Nude Self-Portrait Series #5 (1967, above)
Photo: Nick Henderson

Installation view of the exhibition Peter Hujar: Performance and Portraiture at the Art Institute of Chicago showing at left, Gary in Contortion (2) (1979, below), and at second right Gary Indiana Veiled (1981, below)
Photo: Nick Henderson

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Gary in Contortion (2)
1979
Gelatin silver print
Courtesy of the Peter Hujar Archive and Pace Gallery
© The Peter Hujar Archive / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Gary Indiana Veiled
1981
Gelatin silver print
Courtesy of the Peter Hujar Archive and Pace Gallery
© The Peter Hujar Archive / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY

Installation view of the exhibition Peter Hujar: Performance and Portraiture at the Art Institute of Chicago showing at fifth from left, Hujar’s John Flowers Backstage at the Palm Casino Revue (1974, below); and at right, Hujar’s Larry Ree Backstage (1974, below) with ‘Experimental and Camp Performance’ exhibition text to the extreme right
Photo: Nick Henderson

Wall text from the exhibition
Photo: Nick Henderson

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
John Flowers Backstage at the Palm Casino Revue
1974
Courtesy of the Peter Hujar Archive and Pace Gallery
© The Peter Hujar Archive / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Larry Ree Backstage (installation view)
1974
Collection of Randall Kroszner and David Nelson
© The Peter Hujar Archive / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY
Photo: Nick Henderson

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Larry Ree Backstage
1974
Collection of Randall Kroszner and David Nelson
© The Peter Hujar Archive / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Palermo Catacombs #6 (Girl with Gloves)
1963
Gelatin silver print
Image: 37.4 × 37.5cm (14 3/4 × 14 13/16 in.)
Paper: 50.5 × 40.5cm (19 15/16 × 16 in.)
Ruttenberg Curatorial Endowment and Photography and Media Purchase funds
© The Peter Hujar Archive / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY

Wall text from the exhibition
Photo: Nick Henderson

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Palermo Catacombs #10 (Girl with Flowers)
1963
Gelatin silver print
Image: 38.4 × 38.3cm (15 1/8 × 15 1/8 in.)
Paper: 50.8 × 40.4cm (20 × 15 15/16 in.)
Promised gift of Randall Kroszner and David Nelson
© The Peter Hujar Archive / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY

He created direct yet enigmatic portraits of people and animals, pictures of performers, and sexually charged male nudes in close dialogue with the performance and movement study scene emerging in New York’s East Village in the 1970s. His subject matter was influenced by various dimensions of his experience, including a childhood spent on his grandparents’ farm, a lifelong interest in dance and theatre, and his identity as a gay man.

In the early 1970s, Hujar was living in a loft in lower Manhattan as, nearby, Robert Wilson founded the Byrd Hoffman School of Byrds, a performance group dedicated to exploring new approaches to theatre and choreography. Byrd Hoffman is just one of the groups Hujar would go on to photograph extensively, along with the Ridiculous Theatrical Company, an absurdist project founded by Charles Ludlam, and The Cockettes, a psychedelic theatre troupe based in San Francisco. Hujar photographed performances by these companies but often paid more attention to capturing the actors and dancers backstage, in moments of transition – as they put on their costumes and make-up, preparing to embody the characters they would play.

This exhibition connects both the experimentation Hujar and his subjects pursued and the new realities they each created – whether through photographs or performance. The presentation includes over 60 works by Hujar, and in keeping with the spirit of collaboration and exchange that typified the downtown New York scene, also includes artwork by some of the artists and performers in his circle, including works by Greer Lankton, Sheryl Sutton, and David Wojnarowicz.

Text from the Art Institute of Chicago website

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Nude Self-Portrait Series #1 (installation view)
1967
Pigmented ink print
© The Peter Hujar Archive / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY
Photo: Nick Henderson

Wall text from the exhibition
Photo: Nick Henderson

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Nude Self-Portrait Series #3
1967
Pigmented ink print
© The Peter Hujar Archive / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Iggy Pop Lying Down
1969
Gelatin silver print
Courtesy of the Peter Hujar Archive and Pace Gallery
© The Peter Hujar Archive / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Orgasmic Man (installation view)
1969
Gelatin silver print
© The Peter Hujar Archive / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY
Photo: Nick Henderson

Wall text from the exhibition
Photo: Nick Henderson

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Orgasmic Man
1969
Gelatin silver print
© The Peter Hujar Archive / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Orgasmic Man (I)
1969
Gelatin silver print
© The Peter Hujar Archive / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Orgasmic Man (I) (installation view)
1969
Gelatin silver print
© The Peter Hujar Archive / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY
Photo: Nick Henderson

Wall text from the exhibition
Photo: Nick Henderson

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Candy Darling on Her Deathbed (installation view)
1973
© The Peter Hujar Archive / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY
Photo: Nick Henderson

Wall text from the exhibition
Photo: Nick Henderson

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Candy Darling on Her Deathbed
1973
Courtesy of the Peter Hujar Archive and Pace Gallery
© The Peter Hujar Archive / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Sheryl Sutton
1977
The Art Institute of Chicago, Ruttenberg Curatorial Endowment Fund
© The Peter Hujar Archive / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Arthur Rimbaud in New York (installation view)
1978-1979
Gelatin silver print
© The Peter Hujar Archive / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY
Photo: Nick Henderson

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
David Brintzenhofe Applying Makeup (installation view)
1982
Gelatin silver print
© The Peter Hujar Archive / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY
Photo: Nick Henderson

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Canal Street Piers: Luis Frangella Painting (installation view)
1983
Gelatin silver print
© The Peter Hujar Archive / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY
Photo: Nick Henderson

Wall text from the exhibition
Photo: Nick Henderson

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Greer Lankton’s Legs (installation view)
1983
Gelatin silver print
The Art Institute of Chicago, purchased with funds provided by Pamela Phillips Weston
© The Peter Hujar Archive / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY
Photo: Nick Henderson

Wall text from the exhibition
Photo: Nick Henderson

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Greer Lankton’s Legs
1983
Gelatin silver print
The Art Institute of Chicago, purchased with funds provided by Pamela Phillips Weston
© The Peter Hujar Archive / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY

Hujar’s representation of artist Greer Lankton’s legs evokes tropes of feminine glamor and imagery such as fashion photographs and pin-ups, while also recalling the fragmentation of the body Lankton effected in her sculptures.

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
Merce Cunningham and John Cage (installation view)
1986
Gelatin silver print
© The Peter Hujar Archive / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY
Photo: Nick Henderson

Wall text from the exhibition
Photo: Nick Henderson

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
David Wojnarowicz Reclining (II) (installation view)
1981
Pigmented ink print
Collection of Randall Kroszner and David Nelson
© The Peter Hujar Archive / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY
Photo: Nick Henderson

Peter Hujar (American, 1934-1987)
David Wojnarowicz Reclining (II)
1981
Pigmented ink print
Collection of Randall Kroszner and David Nelson
© The Peter Hujar Archive / Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY

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