Philadelphia Museum of Art
Philadelphia, PA
(215) 763-8100
http://www.philamuseum.org/
Voyage of Discovery: The
Landscape Photographs of Ray K. Metzker
The first museum survey of landscape images
by this important American artist, Voyage of Discovery: The Landscape
Photographs of Ray K. Metzker will present more than 100 prints from
a remarkable body of photographs created between 1985 and 1998. On view
in the Berman and Stieglitz Galleries of the Philadelphia Museum of Art
from November 18, 2000, through February 11, 2001, Voyage of Discovery
will illustrate the extensive range of these creative investigations, most
of which have never before been exhibited. (left: Costogneto,
Italy, from the Feste di Foglie Series, 1965, gelatin silver print,
Courtesy of the Laurence Miller Gallery, New York, Copyright Ray K. Metzker)
Metzker turned suddenly to landscape photography in 1985
during an autumn trip to Tuscany, where he produced a series of works titled
Feste di Foglie (Celebration of Leaves). The artist's joyous response
to Italy launched him on a subject he would pursue for more than a decade,
resulting in one of the most poetic 
and varied treatments of this subject in the history
of photography. These lyrical photographs are a significant departure from
the bold, urban images for which Metzker previously had been known. Often
choosing his subjects because he perceives them as metaphors for the human
situation, Metzker has challenged his own limits in his landscape work and
extended his reach far beyond traditional approaches to that genre, while
creating work that can be appreciated for its beauty, technical achievement,
and philosophical underpinnings. (left: Moab, Utah, 1995,
gelatin silver print, Courtesy of the Laurence Miller Gallery, New York,
Copyright Ray K. Metzker)
In the early 1990s, the artist traveled to locations as
diverse as Colorado, Wisconsin, Turkey, and France, where his exploration
of landscape continued. The delicacy of line evident in the earliest Feste
images gave way, as the work progressed, to more complex views that
blur the distinction between subject and background. Since 1994, Metzker
has worked almost exclusively in Moab, Utah. Less intimate than the images
at the beginning of the project, these recent photographs capture particularly
dramatic vistas of western landscape.
Born
in Minnesota in 1931, Metzker has made his home in Philadelphia since 1962.
Prior to that, he studied with Harry Callahan and Aaron Siskind at the Institute
of Design in Chicago. The artist has been the recipient of many awards,
including fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment
for the Arts. His work is well represented in museums and public collections
in both in the U.S. and abroad. (left: Dordogne, France from the
Sojourn Series, 1989, gelatin silver print, Courtesy of the Laurence
Miller Gallery, New York, Copyright Ray K. Metzker)
Voyage of Discovery is the
first in a series of exhibitions showcasing distinguished artists associated
with Philadelphia that will be presented in celebration of the Museum's
125th anniversary in 2001. Also on view in 2001 will be retrospectives of
the painters Alice Neel (February 18-April 15) and Thomas Eakins (October-December),
the first major show of works on paper by the 
influential African American printmaker Dox Thrash
(October-December), and the groundbreaking architecture of Venturi, Scott
Brown and Associates (June-July).
Voyage of Discovery: The Landscape Photographs of Ray
K. Metzker is selected by Evan H. Turner, retired
director of the Cleveland Museum of Art (and director of the Philadelphia
Museum of Art from 1964 to 1977). It is coordinated for the Philadelphia
Museum of Art by Katherine Ware, Curator of Photographs in the Department
of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs. (left: Dordogne, France
from the Sojourn Series, 1989, gelatin silver print, Courtesy of the
Laurence Miller Gallery, New York, Copyright Ray K. Metzker)
Read more about the Philadelphia
Museum of Art in Resource Library Magazine
Please click on thumbnail images bordered by a red line
to see enlargements.
For further biographical information on selected artists
cited above please see America's Distinguished
Artists, a national registry of historic artists.
This page was originally published in Resource
Library Magazine. Please see Resource Library's Overview section for
more information. rev. 4/30/11
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reserved.
The first museum survey of landscape images
by this important American artist, Voyage of Discovery: The Landscape
Photographs of Ray K. Metzker will present more than 100 prints from
a remarkable body of photographs created between 1985 and 1998. On view
in the Berman and Stieglitz Galleries of the Philadelphia Museum of Art
from November 18, 2000, through February 11, 2001, Voyage of Discovery
will illustrate the extensive range of these creative investigations, most
of which have never before been exhibited. (left: Costogneto,
Italy, from the Feste di Foglie Series, 1965, gelatin silver print,
Courtesy of the Laurence Miller Gallery, New York, Copyright Ray K. Metzker)
