SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA.- The Art Gallery of New South Wales will present “Man Ray,” from February 6, 2004 to April 18, 2004. ManRay was one of the most famous and original artists of the 20th century; his importance and influence have  many aspects. He revolutionised photography through his experiments and then popularised these through his work as a portrait and fashion photographer. Man Ray’s iconic images such as Noire et Blanche, Le Violon d’Ingres and haunting portraits of his many friends and colleagues are now embedded within popular consciousness.  

This is the first monographic exhibition of his work in Australia and is organised by the Art Gallery of New South Wales. After showing in Sydney, the exhibition tours to Brisbane and Melbourne. Ninety percent of the 200 works in the exhibition are from 1917-39, the remainder from 1940-70, reflecting the great years of Man Ray’s photographic output and his resolve from 1940 onwards to concentrate on painting. 

The majority of the photographs are vintage and a number of them have never been published. Three quarters of the works are from the collection of Lucien Treillard, Paris, who was Man Ray’s assistant in the last years of the artist’s life, and one quarter from MNAM, Centre Pompidou, Paris. The exhibition is co-curated by Judy Annear, Senior Curator Photography at the Art Gallery of New South Wales and Emmanuelle de L’Ecotais, Curator of Photography at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris.  

The 200 works are divided into 9 sections - New York & Duchamp, Films, Fashion, Portraits, Nudes, Objects, Rayographs, Landscapes and Documents. The three largest sections - Nudes, Objects and Portraits are broken down into smaller subsections: Portraits is grouped around specific subjects and their roles and Nudes are grouped according to specific narratives and models. All sections are organised chronologically and thematically. Man Ray was a superb technician and a highly inventive artist. He always denied that he had any ability with the camera or in the darkroom; however it is clear that there are many variations from a specific shoot or from his darkroom manipulations and rarely one final image. This exhibition emphasises his techniques of framing, cropping, solarising and use of the photogram in order to present a new, ’surreal’ way of seeing, which continues to fascinate because of the lush and enigmatic beauty of the finished work.