The gallery presents (S) IMAGE THAN RATHER (S) IDEA BE CAN PHOTOGRAPHY FOR BASE A <——, a solo exhibition of work by Bay Area-based conceptual photographer Lew Thomas. The title of the exhibition is taken from Lew Thomas’s 1972 work, NOTES, one of the ten or so pieces included in the artist’s landmark Reproduction of Reproductions series. Thomas’s phrase, read in reverse “A base for photography can be idea(s) rather
than image(s)” is a succinct expression of his practice; in particular, his idea that photography is about reading, rather than the nineteenth century gesture of capturing, an image. The presentation includes works by Thomas that have not been seen in over four decades; pieces he reproduced in his landmark text Structural(ism) and Photography (NFS Press, 1978). Structural(ism) and Photography moved the photography world upon its publication. Part catalog, part instruction manual, part philosophic treatise, Thomas’s book, and the photographs included in it, outline a conceptualism defined by the structure of photography: how cameras work, what photographs do, and how the public read them.
FESTIVAL
Paris Photo Los Angeles
May 1st – 3rd, 2015
Cherry et Martin
Paramount Pictures Studios
Los Angeles
780 N. Gower Street
Los Angeles, CA 90038
United States
