Danny Lyon: Message to the Future

June 17–Sept 25, 2016

A woman in a red dress looking directly at the camera.

Danny Lyon: Message to the Future is the first comprehensive retrospective of the career of Danny Lyon (b. 1942) to be presented in twenty-five years. The exhibition is organized by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco and will premiere at the Whitney in June 2016 before traveling to San Francisco.

The exhibition assembles approximately 175 photographs and related films and ephemera to highlight Lyon’s concern with social and political issues and the welfare of individuals considered by many to be on the margins of society. The presentation includes many objects that have seldom or never been exhibited before and offers a rare look at works from Lyon’s archives alongside important loans from major public and private collections in the United States. This is also the first exhibition to assess the artist’s achievements as a filmmaker.

A leading figure in the American street photography movement of the 1960s, Lyon has distinguished himself by the personal intimacy he establishes with his subjects and the inventiveness of his practice. With his ability to find beauty in the starkest reality, Lyon has through his work provided a charged alternative to the bland vision of American life often depicted in the mass media.

Danny Lyon: Message to the Future is organized by Julian Cox, Chief Curator and Founding Curator of Photography, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF) and Chief Curator at the de Young Museum. The installation at the Whitney Museum is overseen by Elisabeth Sussman, Curator and Sondra Gilman Curator of Photography.

Danny Lyon: Message to the Future is organized by the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco in collaboration with the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.

Generous support is provided by the Henry Peterson Foundation and an anonymous donor.

Artworks

The artist Danny Lyon holds a camera for a self portrait.

Danny Lyon (b. 1942), Self-portrait, New Orleans, 1964. Vintage gelatin silver print. 7 3/16 × 4 13/16 in. (18.2 × 12.2 cm). Collection of the artist. © Danny Lyon, courtesy Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York

A woman poses in a button down shirt and shorts.

Danny Lyon (b. 1942), Kathy, Uptown, Chicago, 1965. Vintage gelatin silver print. 9 1/2 × 9 3/8 in. (24.1 × 23.9 cm). Collection of the artist. © Danny Lyon, courtesy Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York

Danny Lyon (b. 1942, Crossing the Ohio River, Louisville, 1966. Vintage gelatin silver print. 8 × 12 1/2 in. (20.3 × 31.8 cm). Silverman Museum Collection. © Danny Lyon, courtesy Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York

A man sits on a motorcycle with several other photos of people surrounding him.

Danny Lyon (b. 1942), Self-portrait, Chicago, 1965. Gelatin silver prints montage. 12 1/4 × 10 15/16 in. (31.2 × 27.8 cm). Collection of the artist. © Danny Lyon, courtesy Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York

The interior of a car with a woman standing right outside the driver's seat window.

Danny Lyon (b. 1942), Leslie, Downtown Knoxville, 1967. Vintage gelatin silver print. 11 1/4 × 7 1/2 in. (28.7 × 19.1 cm). Art Institute of Chicago, Gift of Mr. Danny Lyon. © Danny Lyon, courtesy Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York

Two men looking into a mirror, one holding a camera.

Danny Lyon (b. 1942), Mark Di Suvero and Danny Lyon, Hyde Park, Chicago, 1965. Vintage gelatin silver print. 8 × 10 in. Collection of the artist. © Danny Lyon, courtesy Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York

John Lennon sits in a chair and holds a camera while another man stands next to him.

Danny Lyon (b. 1942), John Lennon and Danny Seymour, The Bowery, New York, 1969. Gelatin silver print; printed later. 11 × 14 in. Collection of the artist. © Danny Lyon, courtesy Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York

A woman lies back in bed with a vinyl record near her legs.

Danny Lyon (b. 1942), Pumpkin Reneé, Galveston, Texas, 1967. Vintage gelatin silver print. 6 1/2 × 9 1/4 in. (16.1 × 23.5 cm). Collection of the artist. © Danny Lyon, courtesy Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York

A man without a shirt gets a tattoo in a tattoo parlor.

Danny Lyon (b. 1942), Bill Sanders, Tattoo Artist, Houston, Texas, 1968. Vintage gelatin silver print. 8 3/16 × 8 3/16 in. (20.7 × 20.7 cm). Collection of the artist. © Danny Lyon, courtesy Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York

A man being pat down by a police officer.

Danny Lyon, Shakedown at Ellis Unit, Texas, 1968. Vintage gelatin silver print. 8 1/2 × 12 1/4 in. (21.6 × 31.3 cm). Museum of Modern Art. © Danny Lyon, courtesy Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York

Two shirtless men in a small room with brick walls, one of them lifting a barbell.

Danny Lyon (b. 1942), Weight lifters, Ramsey Unit, Texas, 1968. Vintage gelatin silver print. 7/8 × 13 1/16 in. (image). Collection of the artist. © Danny Lyon, courtesy Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York

A woman standing on the side of a road with text as a border.

Danny Lyon (b. 1942), Stephanie, Sandoval County, New Mexico, 1970. Vintage gelatin silver print (decorated). 11 × 14 in. (27.9 × 35.6 cm). Collection of the artist. © Danny Lyon, courtesy Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York

Four men in hats look in the same direction.

Danny Lyon (b. 1942), Maricopa County, Arizona, 1977. Vintage gelatin silver print. 9 × 13 3/16 in. (22.8 × 33.5 cm). Collection of the artist. © Danny Lyon, courtesy Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York

A woman in a red dress looks at the camera.

Danny Lyon (b. 1942), Tesca, Cartagena, Colombia, 1966. Cibachrome, printed 2008. 10 1/8 × 10 1/8 in. (25.7 × 25.7 cm). Collection of the artist. © Danny Lyon, courtesy Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York

Double images stacked on top of each other of a man's face.

Danny Lyon (b. 1942), Juan Darias, Colombia, 1975. Vintage gelatin silver print from film still. 5 5/8 × 4 1/4 in. (14.3 × 10.8 cm). Collection of the artist. © Danny Lyon, courtesy Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York

A police officer holds a gun while a woman walks in front of him.

Danny Lyon (b. 1942), Haiti, 1987. Gelatin silver prints montage. 22 7/8 × 22 7/8 in. (58.2 × 58.2 cm). Collection of the artist. © Danny Lyon, courtesy Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York

An abandoned house in the middle of a field.

Danny Lyon (b. 1942), Abandoned homestead, Corson County, South Dakota, 2000. Vintage gelatin silver print. 14 9/16 × 17 7/8 in. (37.1 × 45.1 cm). Collection of the artist. © Danny Lyon, courtesy Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York

Three women in a tent and one woman just outside the tent smoking.

Danny Lyon (b. 1942), Occupy Oakland, City Hall, Oakland, 2011. Archival pigment print. 9 3/4 × 13 in. (24.6 × 33 cm). Collection of the artist. © Danny Lyon, courtesy Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York

A cop with his back to the camera faces a group of young protesters on the street.

Danny Lyon (b. 1942), Occupy Demonstration on Broadway, Los Angeles, 2011. Digital inkjet print. 13 × 15 3/4 in. Collection of the artist. © Danny Lyon, courtesy Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York

Nine photos of the Southwest aligned, three in each row.

Danny Lyon (b. 1942), Powwow (New Mexico, South Dakota, and Arizona), 1997. SX-70 Polaroids. 11 1/16 × 10 1/2 in. (28 × 26.5 cm). Collection of the artist. © Danny Lyon, courtesy Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York

Artist

Danny Lyon
23 works in the collection
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Videos

Representative John Lewis in Conversation with Danny Lyon

Events

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Audio guides

Listen to commentary from scholars Elisabeth Sussman, Todd Gitlin, Julian Cox, and artist Danny Lyon on selected works in the exhibition Danny Lyon: Message to the Future.

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