Throckmorton Fine Art presents an exhibition highlighting four decades of work by the accomplished photographer, Mario Algaze. The exhibit will present 35 images included in the handsome catalogue of his work published in 2010, Mario Algaze: Portfolio. Algaze has worked throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, including his native Cuba, and his photographs reveal his intimacy with the region and its peoples.
Algaze use of shadow is reminiscent of early photography. His compositions are careful, but not studied. He commonly includes figures, but does not offer portraits. Instead, he uses individuals, caught in the course of prosaic activities, like praying or riding a bicycle, to suggest depth and scale, and so, seemingly, to suggest our place: we are part of a larger “setting.” Algaze has a formal way of capturing the essence of Latin America.
Algaze’s father left Turkey after World War I for Cuba, but in 1960, a year after the Cuban Revolution, the family moved to Miami. Algaze was but thirteen at the time. He taught himself the art of photography and gained fame for his portraits of celebrities, from Mick Jagger to Nina Simone to Rufino Tamayo. In time, though, Algaze moved from photographing artists to being an artist himself. Algaze’s work has been exhibited and is in the collections of numerous museums, including the Houston Museum of Art, the Norton Simon Museum, and the Cleveland Museum of Art.
Mario Algaze, Forty years
On view until January 7th, 2012
Throckmorton Fine Art
145 East 57th St. 3rd fl.
New York, NY 10022
