By turns earnest and playful, the latest installation at Gallery Kayafas is at its root a celebration of our human relationships. On the serious side – literally, one side of the gallery – are exquisite, archival gelatin silver prints by the eminent late photographer Aaron Siskind, from his series Harlem Document 1932 – 40. They tell a sociologic story of a bygone era with masterful grace.
“Watermelon Seller” from the series Harlem Document 1932-40 by Aaron Siskind (courtesy of Gallery Kayafas, Boston).
On the lighthearted side are absurdly amusing photographs and projected slides that depict the misguided antics of not one, but three, self-appointed detectives attempting to solve the titular mystery “Aaron, Arlette, Harvey! Where Is Charles?”. These crazies are photographers Jason Egan and Matthew Nash (known collectively as Harvey Loves Harvey) and none other than gallery owner Arlette Kayafas.
Original gelatin silver photograph of Charles Egan sunbathing by Aaron Siskind, circa 1948 (courtesy of Gallery Kayafas, Boston).
So, what is this puzzler about and how do the halves make a whole? Admittedly, the connections are a bit tough to follow, but it all started with an old snapshot discovered behind a bedroom dresser of the storied NYC gallery owner Charles Egan – who represented many 1940’s – 1960’s avant garde artists – photographed by the famed photographer Aaron Siskind. Okay, here’s where it gets thick. In the photo, Charles Egan is sunbathing, but he could easily be doubling as a corpse in a casket. Perhaps this is what gave rise to the photographic “conversation” invented and enacted by Harvey Loves Harvey in collusion with gallerist Arlette Kayafas. Their banter is something akin to a responsive reading regarding the whereabouts of the supine Charles Egan in the old Siskind photo, using an inventive visual vocabulary, including a wall-sized 7-panel vinyl print, video and slideshow.
“Harvey Loves Harvey Photographs Arlette, 2015” by Harvey Loves Harvey (courtesy of the artists and Gallery Kayafas, Boston).
There are parallels here that draw the exhibit together, primarily that gallerist Charles Egan represented photographer Aaron Siskind, whose Harlem Document 1932-40 photographs are on display, and Arlette Kayafas represents the photographers Harvey Loves Harvey (one of whom is in some way related to Charles Egan). That, and the Kayafas family was such good friends with Aaron Siskind that they named one of their sons after him. See what I mean about interrelationships?
“Peace Pieman” from the series Harlem Document 1932-40 by Aaron Siskind (courtesy of Gallery Kayafas, Boston).
But none of these details really matter, it’s all just a pretense for some “family fun” and a pleasing dose of the young Aaron Siskind’s moving social documentary work as a member of the New York Photo League, while he was still a grade school English teacher in the New York City public school system. Not too much later, in 1944, Siskind abandoned street photography, turning instead to architecture and abstraction of familiar objects. Famously, he is credited with founding the photographic school of abstract expressionism, aesthetically integrating principles of music, poetry and painting to create his own highly distinctive form of visual lyricism. But that was then and this is now. Just come and soak it up, through October 17, 2015.
For more information about this exhibit, go to: http://www.gallerykayafas.com/
Feature Image: Detail from “02” by Jason Egan and Matthew Nash, known as Harvey Loves Harvey (courtesy of the artists and Gallery Kayafas, Boston).
“Apollo Theatre, c.1935” from the series Harlem Document 1932-40 by Aaron Siskind (courtesy of Gallery Kayafas, Boston).
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