When it comes to a mastery of colour, line and form, few compare to Ellsworth Kelly. Despite the artist’s body of work being spot-lit in more than 30 museums globally, there’s an unknown aspect of his oeuvre that goes beyond wielding a paint brush or taking up asculptor’s tools. This month, Matthew Marks Gallery in Chelsea is hosting ‘Ellsworth Kelly: Photographs’, the first exhibition of Kelly's work in the discipline.
While the more than 30 gelatin silver prints on view date from 1950 to 1982, Kelly was completing the pieces involved in the exhibition until shortly before his death last year, at the age of 92.
Kelly began snapping pictures some 60 years ago when he first borrowed a Leica. In taking up a camera, Kelly commented that he was seeking to ‘make notations of things I had seen and subjects I had been drawing’; yet his images were never the basis for his paintings, drawings and sculpture.
The images here were largely shot in France and Spencertown in upstate New York (where he lived from 1970 until the end of his life). They include shots of barns and architectural details of windows and roofs, the shadows they cast with their interlocking forms evoking the planes and shapes of his iconic paintings and sculptures.
In a 1963 interview, Kelly revealed that his works up to that point had primarily been ‘paintings of things I’d seen, like a window, or a fragment of a piece of architecture, or someone’s legs; or sometimes the space between things, or just how the shadow of an object would look.' He wasn't interested, he explained, 'in the texture of the rock, or that it is a rock, but in the mass of it, and its shadow’.
His ethos, it transpired, was more existential – even transcendental. ‘You keep trying to freeze the world as if you could make it last forever... to get at the rapture of seeing.’
The gelatin silver prints on view may date from 1950 to 1982, but Kelly was completing the pieces involved in the exhibition until shortly before his death last year, at the age of 92
The images here were largely shot in France and Spencertown in upstate New York (where he lived from 1970 until the end of his life)
They include shots of barns and architectural details of windows and roofs, the shadows they cast with their interlocking forms evoking the planes and shapes of his iconic paintings and sculptures
Kelly first began snapping pictures some 60 years ago, on a borrowed Leica
Kelly’s ultimate ethos in his photography was almost transcendental: ‘You keep trying to freeze the world as if you could make it last forever... to get at the rapture of seeing’
INFORMATION
‘Ellsworth Kelly: Photographs’ is on view until 30 April. For more information, visit Matthew Marks Gallery’s website
Photography courtesy Matthew Marks Gallery
ADDRESS
Matthew Marks Gallery
523 West 24th Street
New York, NY 10011
-
The artistry of Japanese wineFine wine from Japan may not yet register highly on the radars of most oenophiles, but for those who know, it's a hugely rewarding and rich tapestry of flavour. Drinks expert, Neil Ridley visits London's Luna Omakase for the launch of a new dedicated Japanese wine pairing menu
-
In Los Angeles, Darling doesn’t want to be your average dinner spotVinyl, live-fire cooking, and California’s finest ingredients come together in this immersive new concept from a celebrated Southern chef
-
Ashlyn, the quietly romantic New York label from a Yohji Yamamoto alumnaThe focus of our latest Uprising column, Seoul-born Ashlyn Park worked for fashion greats before starting her own label in 2020. Showing her S/S 2026 collection at NYFW yesterday, she talks to Wallpaper* about marrying Japanese influences with the romance of Parisian savoir-faire
-
Stephen Prina borrows from pop, classical and modern music: now MoMA pays tribute to his performance work‘Stephen Prina: A Lick and a Promise’ recalls the artist, musician, and composer’s performances, and is presented throughout MoMA. Prina tells us more
-
Out of office: the Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekWith the return of back-to-school, it's back to business for the Wallpaper* team, who’ve been making the rounds at fashion pop-ups and pavilion launches. Elsewhere, we’ve been indulging in new literature and old restaurants, and taking in a farewell exhibition at a landmark gallery...
-
Curtains up, Kid Harpoon rethinks the sound of Broadway production ‘Art’He’s crafted hits with Harry Styles and Miley Cyrus; now songwriter and producer Kid Harpoon (aka Tom Hull) tells us about composing the music for the new, all-star Broadway revival of Yasmina Reza’s play ‘Art’
-
Out of office: the Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekHere in the UK, summer seems to be fading fast. Moody skies and showers called for early-autumn rituals for the Wallpaper* team: retreating into the depths of the Tate Modern, slipping into shadowy cocktail bars, and curling up with a good book
-
Richard Prince recontextualises archival advertisements in TexasThe artist unites his ‘Posters’ – based on ads for everything from cat pictures to nudes – at Hetzler, Marfa
-
Out of office: the Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the weekAnother week, another flurry of events, opening and excursions showcasing the best of culture and entertainment at home and abroad. Catch our editors at Scandi festivals, iconic jazz clubs, and running the length of Manhattan…
-
The best Ruth Asawa exhibition is actually on the streets of San FranciscoThe artist, now the subject of a major retrospective at SFMOMA, designed many public sculptures scattered across the Bay Area – you just have to know where to look
-
Orlando Museum of Art wants to showcase more Latin American and Hispanic artists. Do you fit the bill?The Florida gallery calls for for Hispanic and Latin American artists to submit their work for an ongoing exhibition
