INFINITE IDENTITIES H U I S M A R S E I L L E , A M ST E R DA M
F U N DAC I Ó N M A P F R E , M A D R I D
For his series, America by Car, the photographer travelled through almost all 50 U.S. states over a period of ten years – capturing his home country straight from the driver’s seat. The windscreen, dashboard and rear-view mirror of his rental car became part of his impressions of the roads, meadows, forests, deserts, churches and oil fields of this vast nation. This is America, the Land of the Free – and there are few who have explored it as thoroughly as Lee Friedlander. “It fascinates me that there is a variety of feeling about what I do,” the American photographer once said. “I’m not a pre-meditative photographer. I see a picture and I make it. If I had a chance, I’d be out shooting all the time. You don’t have to go looking for pictures. The material is generous. You go out and the pictures are staring at you.” With this approach, the now 86-yearold has been collecting images for over a half a century, using every opportunity to record what he saw: children at play, the face of a passer-by, shop windows, or even just asphalt, stones and gravel. With the exhibition, Lee Friedlander, the Fundación Mapfre in Madrid now presents a selection of 350 images, offering a chronological overview of the prolific artist’s oeuvre – his series and books, thematic and stylistic associations. The result is a rich compilation of portraits, self portraits, family pictures, nature scenes and urban impressions. Despite the sense of irony that runs through much of the street photographer’s work, Friedlander’s black and white images are, at their core, an affectionate tribute to his home country. October 1, 2020 — January 10, 2021; Photo: Lee Friedlander, Paul Tate, Lafayette, Louisiana 1968
108 |
LFI
November 28, 2020 — March 7, 2021 Photo: Farah Al Qasimi, Noora’s Room, 2020
W H AT D O E S D E M O C R AC Y L O O K L I K E ?
ZA N E L E M U H O L I TAT E M O D E R N , L O N D O N
In 2006, South Africa became the fifth country in the world to legalise same-sex marriage. But this apparent tolerance is hardly reflected in everyday reality: openly gay and transgender people continue to face stigma, violence and exclusion. Zanele Muholi, a selfdescribed ‘visual activist’, uses art to take a stand against discrimination. For the past twenty years, the photogra-
M O C P, C H I C A G O
The Museum in Chicago has searched its collection for visual interpretations of democracy. 200 images by photographers such as Dawoud Bey, Dorothea Lange and Garry Winogrand convey moments of shared humanity, stories of perseverance and protest, struggles and achievements. Oct 1 — Dec 23, 2020; Photo: Darryl Cowherd, Stop White Police from Killing Us, St. Louis, MO, c. 1966–67
pher has documented the lives of black LGBT and non-binary individuals. This showcase of 260 images illustrates the artist’s sensitive fight to give these communities the visibility they deserve. November 5, 2020 — March 7, 2021 Photos: Zanele Muholi, Ntozakhe II, Parktown 2016; Busi Sigasa, Braamfontein, Johannesburg 2006
Photos: © Lee Friedlander, courtesy of the Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco; © Farah Al Qasimi, courtesy of the Artist and Helena Anrather, New York; The Third Line, Dubai; © Zanele Muholi. Courtesy of the Artist and Stevenson, Cape Town/Johannesburg and Yancey Richardson, New York; © Giovanni Gastel
LEE FRIEDLANDER
In this show, nine contemporary photographers and visual artists explore the nature of Photography in the Age of Sharing. They each illustrate how Instagram serves as their digital archive, studio, source of inspiration, presentation and networking platform. And yet, could social media channels ever replace physical artworks and exhibition spaces?
