Danny Lyon: Montage, Film, and Still Photography
Sept 7, 2007–Jan 13, 2008
Danny Lyon and Mohammad Ali, just before the second Jerry Quarry fight, Fifth Street Gym, Miami, 1970. Photograph by Angelo Dundee. Gelatin silver print, 11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 cm). Collection of the artist; courtesy
Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York
Danny Lyon's photographic and film projects are always characterized by a profound social and personal intimacy with his subjects. He has created uniquely memorable bodies of work including a photographic record of the civil rights movement in the 1960s American South, a photographic odyssey following biker subcultures, and an exploration of the lives of individuals in prison. His photography projects are often paralleled by the artist's films and published texts.
Lyon's work reflects long-term interest in the power of grouping imagery. His montages and carefully edited films create another reality, miniature journeys into personal experience captured by the interrelation of unimposing yet arresting images.
The Whitney displays a collection of Lyon's montages alongside a selection of his documentary work and two of his little-known films. Shown for the first time as a group are montages from his 1999 book Knave of Hearts, created during the artist's personal retrospective of his own career.