Utopia/Dystopia: Construction and Destruction in Photography and Collage March 10–June 9, 2012
Utopia/Dystopia: Construction and Destruction in Photography and Collage
Softcover ($29.95) | Published by the MFAH in association with Yale University Press
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El Lissitzky, Dziga Vertov-Kino Auge, 1929, gelatin silver print, the MFAH, the Manfred Heiting Collection, museum purchase with funds provided by the Caroline Wiess Law Accessions Endowment Fund.
Tom Thayer, Paper Puppets from Animations, 2005–09, mixed-media collage,
the MFAH, gift of the Francis L. Lederer Foundation, courtesy of Sharon Lederer.
Carter Mull, Apple, New York Times, February 8, 2011, 2011, collage, the MFAH, promised gift of John A. MacMahon in honor of Candace Waddell MacMahon.
Joel Lederer, 200804012143, from the series The Metaverse is Beautiful, 2009, inkjet print, the MFAH, gift of the artist.
Herbert Bayer, Muscles, 1934, gelatin silver print with applied color and collage, the MFAH, museum purchase with funds provided by Louisa Stude Sarofim.
Esaki Reiji, Collage of Babies, 1893, albumen print, photomontage, the MFAH, gift of an anonymous donor in honor of Yasufumi Nakamori.
Matthew Buckingham, Canal Street Canal, No. 2, 2002, chromogenic print collage, Museum purchase funded by Judy Nyquist, Carey C. Shuart, and Cynthia Toles. © Matthew Buckingham
Utopia/Dystopia explores the ways that artists use photography to project a political, social, or cultural state of utopia or dystopia. Ranging in date from the late 19th century to the present, these photos, photocollages, photomontages, and moving images—along with photographs of a constructed space or sculptures that incorporate a photograph—have allowed artists to experiment with social, political, and urban construction and imagination.
The exhibition draws on the collections of the MFAH and the Menil Collection in Houston; the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York; and private collectors. Among the many artists represented are Herbert Bayer, Matthew Buckingham, Richard Hawkins, Hannah Höch, El Lissitzky, Esaki Reiji, and Tom Thayer.
The timing of Utopia/Dystopia: Construction and Destruction in Photography and Collage celebrates Houston's FotoFest 2012 Biennial (March 16–April 29). An illustrated catalogue, published by the MFAH and distributed by Yale University Press, accompanies the exhibition.
This exhibition is organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
The catalogue for this exhibition receives generous funding from Michael A. Chesser and Jeanne and Michael Klein.