ART CITIES:Paris-Sally Mann
Sally Mann took up photography at the Putney School in Vermont, where she met Larry, to whom she proposed. After a year in Europe, she finished up her degree in 1974 at Hollins College and a year later took a master’s degree in writing. In 1977, she published a book of photographs on the historic architecture of Lexington. Dating from 1975-77 and included in her book “Second Sight”, published in 1982, they reduce the substance of brick and iron to a blur of spooky dimnesses.
By Dimitris Lempesis
Photo: Gagosian Gallery
In her solo exhibition “Remembered Light: Cy Twombly in Lexington” at Gagosian Gallery in Paris, Sally Man presents photographs spanning more than a decade and she records in fleeting impressions the working habitat of Cy Twombly. Sally Mann and Cy Twombly had a friendships with deep roots. Her parents met Twombly when he was a teen-ager and they had just moved to Lexington. They were among the first people to own his work, including a sculpture he gave them as a thank-you for dinner when he was a senior in high school. Sally Mann raised her children and lives on the very farm where she grew up. Twombly moved to Italy in 1957, but in 1993 began returning to Lexington for months, to work on his paintings and his sculptures. In 1999, Mann decided to photograph Twombly’s Lexington studio, a surprisingly humble spot for a world-famous painter. She continued the project for more than a decade. The last time she visited Twombly at work was in 2011, a month later, he died in Rome, at the age of 83. This was documented in “Hold Still”, in which she recalls his elemental nature, his southern courtesy, his wry and gentle humor. In images such as “Remembered Light”, “Untitled (Angled Light)” (1999-00), the unremarkable passage of time is evoked, as well as the willed quietude that surrounded Twombly’s creative existence. With “Untitled (Squat White Sculpture” and “Paint Edges)” (both 2012), Mann indicates the haptic processes leading to the creation of one of his sculptures. Even without the artist’s actual presence, Mann is able to vividly evoke the human traces evident in daily life and work. Cy Twombly disliked having his picture taken, and he remains outside the frame in all of Mann’s photographs. Rather than portraits of an artist, Mann offers us a window into the creative process itself.
Info: Gagosian Gallery, 4 rue de Ponthieu, 2nd Floor, Paris, Duration: 25/1-25/3/17, Days & Hours: Tue-Sat 11:00-19:00, www.gagosian.com
