Rene Magritte in Bowler Hat (Multiple Exposure), 1965,  © Duane Michals

This summer Pace/MacGill Gallery is exhibiting portfolios by six legendary artists: A Box of Ten Photographs by Diane Arbus, Portfolio by Robert Frank, Fifteen Photographs by Lee Friedlander, A Visit With Magritte by Duane Michals, Portfolio I by Robert Rauschenberg and Fifteen Photographs Garry Winogrand.

Aperture has featured many of these photographers in one form or another, particularly Diane Arbus. Diane Arbus: An Aperture Monograph is a 25th anniversary edition survey of her work, Diane Arbus: Magazine Work is a remarkable collection of portraits, Diane Arbus: Untitled demonstrates Arbus’s remarkable visual lyricism, and the upcoming Diane Arbus: A Chronology is the closest thing possible to reading a contemporaneous diary by the daring, influential, and controversial artist. She was also featured in issues of Aperture magazine: Aperture 199 and Aperture 168.

You can also see Duane Michal’s work in the recently released publication Photographic Memory: The Album in the Age of Photography, a book that traces the rise of the album from the turn of the century to the present day, showcasing some of the most important examples in the history of the medium.

Check out our website for more books and magazines featuring these six prolific photographers, and head over to Pace/MacGill Gallery to see the amazing portfolios.

Pace/MacGill Gallery:
32 East 52nd Street
New York, NY
(212) 759-7999

Exhibition on View:
July 14 – August 24

Zen Photography workshop at Apeiron, ca. 1979. Front row, 3rd from left: workshop leader John Daido Loori; 5th from left (hand above eyes): Apeiron founder Peter Schlessinger, who later helped Loori found the Zen Mountain Center in Woodstock, New York. Both were students of Minor White. (Photograph courtesy Apeiron archives)

Forty years ago, shortly after working for a year and a half as an editorial assistant at Aperture (and using many of the contacts he’d made there), Peter Schlessinger opened a photography-workshop center called Apeiron Workshops. Located two hours north of New York City in Millerton, N.Y., and based on methods of focusing attention taught by Aperture’s editor, Minor White, Apeiron offered immersive residential programs of various lengths. Its summer programs offered workshops with an A-list of creative photographers of the time, including Berenice Abbott, Robert Adams, Diane Arbus, Paul Caponigro, Linda Connor, Judy Dater, Robert Frank, Lee Friedlander, Ralph Gibson, Emmet Gowin, Robert Heinecken, Elaine Mayes, Lisette Model, Aaron Siskind, Frederick Sommer, and Garry Winogrand, plus Magnum photographers Charles Harbutt, Mary Ellen Mark, Susan Meiselas, Gilles Peress, and Burk Uzzle. Eventually, Apeiron would also run longer (three-month) spring and fall programs, teach in the public schools, offer a selection of traveling exhibitions, run specialized workshops for teachers, and offer theoretical conferences. During its 12-year tenure, Apeiron published Linda Connor’s first book, Solos, and mounted one of the largest NEA-funded photographic surveys, The Long Island Project. Always run on a shoestring and the heroic commitment of its near-volunteer staff, it closed in 1982 as interest rates hit 18 percent and President Reagan slashed the NEA’s funding.

This coming Labor Day weekend, a reunion open to all who ever participated (as staff, students, workshop leaders, artists-in-residence, or special-project staff) is being held at a conference center in the mountains outside Asheville, North Carolina. Anyone who falls into one or more of the aforementioned categories is encouraged to contact Benjamin Porter at apeironreunion@gmail.com or call him at 828-281-1825 for full information.

Photo by Martin Parr

Aperture Foundation’s Annual Benefit & Auction is next week! Photographer William Christenberry will be honored and there will be silent and live auctions. Over 60 amazing photographs will be available at the auctions, including work from Christenberry,  Mitch Epstein, Pamela Hanson, Richard Misrach, Gabriel Orozco, Martin Parr, Stephen Shore, Paul Strand, Dan Winters, Carrie Mae Weems, Garry Winogrand, and more. See all the auction items here.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2008
Pier 60, Chelsea Piers
New York, New York

6:30–8:00 p.m. Cocktails and Silent Auction
8:00–10:00 p.m. Dinner, Live Auction, and Award Ceremony

All proceeds benefit Aperture Foundation’s publications, exhibitions, and public programs at Aperture Gallery and at other venues worldwide.

A few tickets are still available. Email mgrasso@aperture.org for availability.