Signs of the Time

Signs of the Time is the first in a series of three exhibitions in the Sondra Gilman Gallery that takes a closer look at the different ways that photography is considered within the Whitney’s collection. The Whitney formally began collecting photographs only in 1991, and its collection embraces the historical tradition of American photography, with particular emphasis on work made after World War II and the radical explorations of the medium that have characterized work since the late 1960s.

All the photographs on exhibit in Signs of the Time are by artists working today, yet they do not resemble one another nor do they fit neatly into a particular category or trend. If anything, as a group they show that the radicality of photography at the moment is in its stubborn and astonishing persistence in remaining open--to the document, to the political, to the reconstructed image. Signs of the Time features works by Sam Durant, Gordon Parks, James Casebere, Zoe Leonard, Katy Grannan, Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Sam Samore, and Sara VanDerBeek, among others.

This exhibition is organized by Elisabeth Sussman, Sondra Gilman Curator of Photography.