Philip Perkis: Fifty Years of Photographs

Exhibition Closed September 2010

New York-based artist Philip Perkis is one of the country’s most widely respected photographers. In this exhibition of work spanning his fifty-year career, Perkis’ inimitable vision is brought to light. With a gift for capturing moments of heartbreaking honesty and unparalleled beauty, Perkis presents a world on the brink of transcendence.

These images, taken in the most familiar circumstances-snapped from the driver’s seat or taken at home, are much more than the sum of their parts. As seen by Perkis, the electric fury of barking dogs in the streets of Mexico, the white stillness of Israel, and the silence of a sleeping mother reveal deep complexities of gray, of raw emotion and metaphor. Recent, contemplative works produced by the artist since losing his sight in one eye in 2007 will also be included in the exhibition.

Philip Perkis is Professor Emeritus at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York, and author of Teaching Photography, Notes Assembled. Nine examples of Perkis’ work are represented in the collection of the Telfair Museums. His work is featured in numerous other collections as well, including those of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Opening Lecture and Reception
April 15, 6 pm
Jepson Center- Neises Auditorium
Lecture Program: “A Conversation with Philip Perkis”
Join photographer Philip Perkis and Telfair director of collections and exhibitions, Holly Koons McCullough, for a discussion of Perkis’s work, his long career in photography, and his recent book The Sadness of Men.
Recption to immediatly follow. Free to Telfair members and with museum admission.

This exhibition has been generously funded by Mrs. Robert O. Levitt.

Images from top to bottom: Philip Perkis; Ciudad Juárez, Mexico (detail); 1992; Gelatin silver print; 11 x 16 ⅝ inches; Gift of Helen Levitt, 1996.9.7;   Philip Perkis; Orizaba, Mexico (detail), 1983; Gelatin silver print; 9  ½ x 12 inches; Gift of Helen Levitt, 2003.17.1