Photography Exhibition: The Philadelphia Museum of Art - Common Ground: Eight Philadelphia Photographers in the 1960s and 1970s

The Philadelphia Museum of Art, since opening its Perelman Building in 2007, across the Kelly Drive from the main building, has been hosting some of the best photographic exhibitions in the US. Common Ground: Eight Philadelphia Photographers in the 1960s and 1970s should be no exception.

This exhibition will run from September 12, 2009 - January 31, 2010

Common Ground examines a critical period for the art of photography and for the Philadelphia art scene. In the 1960s, photographers including Emmet Gowin, Will Larson, and Ray K. Metzker, among the first generation of photographers trained in university art departments, all came to Philadelphia to teach in the city’s renowned art schools, bringing with them experimental approaches to the medium.

Common Ground brings together work by these internationally acclaimed artists and superb work by lesser-known figures, including some of their students, who pushed photographic experimentation to explore both the medium and the social and sexual politics of the era. In addition to highlighting eight strong bodies of work, the exhibition demonstrates the rich exchange of ideas possible within a city’s artistic community.

If you’re in the Philadelphia, PA area this fall through mid winter, I strongly suggest you take in what I expect will be a terrific exhibition. I know I plan to be there and closely examine the art of these Philadelphia photographers, who’s work I have admired.

As I travel, I love seeing the work of other photographers as I hope you do. If you know of a new photographic exhibition which you think the Blog should publicize, please contact me.