Lee Friedlander: America By Car
Sept 4–Nov 28, 2010
America by Car, 1995-2009. Gelatin silver print, 15 x 15 in. (38.1 x 38.1 cm). Collection of the artist; courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco © Lee Friedlander, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco
Driving across most of the country’s fifty states in an ordinary rental car, master photographer Lee Friedlander (b. 1934) applied the brilliantly simple conceit of deploying the sideview mirror, rearview mirror, the windshield, and the side windows as picture frames within which to record reflections of this country’s eccentricities and obsessions at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Friedlander’s method allows for fascinating effects in foreshortening, and wonderfully telling juxtapositions in which steering wheels, dashboards, and leatherette bump up against roadside bars, motels, churches, monuments, suspension bridges, essential American landscapes, and often Friedlander’s own image. Presented in the square crop format that has dominated his work in recent series, and taken over the past decade, the images in America by Car are among Friedlander’s finest, full of virtuoso freshness and clarity, while also revisiting themes from older bodies of work.
Lee Friedlander: America By Car is organized by Elisabeth Sussman, Sondra Gilman Curator of Photography.
Artworks
Lee Friedlander, Alaska, 2007, from the series America by Car, 1995-2009. Gelatin silver print, 15 × 15 in. (38.1 × 38.1 cm). Collection of the artist; courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco © Lee Friedlander, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco
Lee Friedlander, Arizona, 2007, from the series America by Car, 1995-2009. Gelatin silver print, 15 × 15 in. (38.1 × 38.1 cm). Collection of the artist; courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco © Lee Friedlander, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco
Lee Friedlander, California, 2008, from the series America by Car, 1995-2009. Gelatin silver print, 15 × 15 in. (38.1 × 38.1 cm). Collection of the artist; courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco © Lee Friedlander, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco
Lee Friedlander, Las Vegas, Nevada, 2007, from the series America by Car, 1995-2009. Gelatin silver print, 15 × 15 in. (38.1 × 38.1 cm). Collection of the artist; courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco © Lee Friedlander, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco
Lee Friedlander, Montana, 2008, from the series America by Car, 1995-2009. Gelatin silver print, 15 × 15 in. (38.1 × 38.1 cm). Collection of the artist; courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco © Lee Friedlander, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco
Lee Friedlander, Montana, 2008, from the series America by Car, 1995-2009. Gelatin silver print, 15 × 15 in. (38.1 × 38.1 cm). Collection of the artist; courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco © Lee Friedlander, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco
Lee Friedlander, Montana, 2008, from the series America by Car, 1995-2009. Gelatin silver print, 15 × 15 in. (38.1 × 38.1 cm). Collection of the artist; courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco © Lee Friedlander, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco
Lee Friedlander, Texas, 2006, from the series America by Car, 1995-2009. Gelatin silver print, 15 × 15 in. (38.1 × 38.1 cm). Collection of the artist; courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco © Lee Friedlander, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco
In the News
Review: "Landscapes Framed by a Chevy"
--The New York Times
"a collection of brilliant observations about American people and places, their idiosyncrasies, eccentricities, and obsessions, and his love of all."
--The New Yorker
Review: "a very sophisticated sense of composition, and a great sense of visual wit"
--The Wall Street Journal
Review: "a revealing portrait of America as a beautiful, kitschy, gritty and diverse landscape."
--Los Angeles Times
Review: "At 76, Lee Friedlander is still one of the greatest American photographers."
--The Washington Post
Slideshow: "the quintessential road trip."
--Esquire
Review: "a submersive sensory experience"
--Vanity Fair
"Roadside Eye on America"
--The New York Post
"a perfect end-of-summer coda"
--WNYC
"this just might be his most dynamic and thematic project yet"
--NPR
"The View From the Driver’s Seat"
--The New York Times, Wheels blog
Video: A preview of the exhibition
--WNET Sunday Arts
America by Car is named one of the most anticipated exhibitions this fall
--New York; Flavorpill