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Minor White
The first European retrospective of American photographer Minor White, marking 50 years since his death, covering nature, portraiture and his innovative photographic sequences.
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A crack runs through a rock, light falls on a wall, sea foam blurs into stone. In many of Minor White's photographs almost nothing happens, Alfredo Urdaci writes in Fanfan, until you stand in front of one for a few seconds and the rock stops being only a rock.
About 250 period prints run in four chronological sections, from Portland in 1938 to Massachusetts in 1976. Around 160 of them form eleven sequences, which White called a "cinema of still images". Contact sheets and issues of Aperture, the magazine he co-founded, fill in the rest. White said Ansel Adams's exposure system was clear to him in one morning; the idea behind these sequences took him about twenty years.
It is the first major White retrospective in Europe, built to be read sequence by sequence. Entry is €5, €3 reduced, and free on Mondays from 14:00 to 20:00. The audio guide, in Spanish and English via QR code, is included; headphones cost €1.
Look for
Slow Dance, about 1965
Look for the double projection of 100 slides that White designed to put viewers into a state of concentration, shown in Europe for the first time.
The Temptation of Saint Anthony Is Mirrors, 1948
A sequence of male portraits made with Tom Murphy, never exhibited during White's lifetime.
Intimations of Disaster, 1952
Nineteen city photographs that together hint at some serious event without ever showing it.
Rural Cathedrals, 1955
Barns under big clouds near Naples and Dansville, New York, shot on infrared film so the farmland turns dreamlike.
Good for
- Cheap Culture
- Going Solo
- Nerding Out
Skip if
You want a few famous single images: most prints hang in long sequences meant to be read in order.
Also at Fundación MAPFRE – Sala Recoletos
On now nearby
Nearby
Image credits
9
- Minor WhiteCourtesy of Fundación MAPFRE – Sala Recoletos
- Fueron tejidos. Teresa LancetaCourtesy of Museo Arqueológico Nacional
- Vitrina CERO: Back to Childhood — Prehistory and Antiquity© Esperanza Martín para el Museo Nacional y Centro de Investigación de Altamira, Santillana del Mar (Cantabria)
- La vida en la frontera. Finds from the Castle of Monreal de ArizaCourtesy of Museo Arqueológico Nacional
- Fundación MAPFRE – Sala RecoletosBeautyriver1010, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Museo Arqueológico NacionalCoralma*, via Wikimedia Commons, CC0
- Casa de AméricaCarlos Delgado (Kadellar), CC BY-SA 3.0
- Museo NavalFernando, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
- Museo Nacional de Artes DecorativasLuis García (Zaqarbal), Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0