On the same dates as for Jacques Sonck exhibition, FIFTY ONE TOO hosts a solo exhibition dedicated to Vivian Maier.
Vivian Maier embraces the fluidity of the street, privileging movement, layering, and the ephemeral nature of public space, which make her a vivid witness of her time.
Vivian Maier (1926–2009) moved through the streets of New York and Chicago with instinctive freedom. A nanny by profession, she produced an extensive body of work that remained largely undiscovered during her lifetime. Using her Rolleiflex camera, she captured fleeting scenes of urban life throughout the 1950s and 1960s, composing images that balance spontaneity with a remarkable sense of framing. Her photographs reveal a fragmented, vibrant humanity where gestures, gazes, and chance encounters form a subtle, poetic observation of everyday life. Recently uncovered archives continue to shed new light on her practice, and this exhibition presents a selection of previously unseen works at the gallery.
Presented together, these two exhibitions create a dialogue between two complementary photographic languages: one oriented toward the deliberate, almost sculptural portrait; the other toward the fleeting, narrative richness of the street scene. What unites them is a shared fascination with people-always at the center of their work- and with the infinite variety of faces, bodies, ages, and social identities. Both are committed to rendering visible the humanity embedded in everyday life.
Vivian Maier
from May 14 to July 11, 2026
GALLERY FIFTY ONE – FIFTY ONE TOO
Zirkstraat 20 – Hofstraat 2
2000 Antwerpen – Belgium
+32 3 289 84 58
www.gallery51.com
