Optical Parables @ Walker Art Center
Wednesday 22 January @ 12:04:19 |
 by Jenny Assef
It’s impossible to sum Optical Parables into words, given the scope and intrigue of this retrospective exhibition, which is as overwhelming as one would expect, considering Manuel Alvarez Bravo’s long life (100 years), long career (80 years) and smart, discerning eye.
Tejedor en Toluca by Manuel Alvarez Bravo
Bravo himself seems to have been overwhelmed—by the beauty and tumult of the world, by the visual poetics at play in every scene, by the uncertainty and momentum of life in the years following the Mexican Revolution. How else to explain the vast catalog we see, as wall after wall of photographs greet us?
Perhaps in an effort to streamline this abundance, the show presents Bravo’s work in a very particular way. At the entrance, we’re introduced to him alongside his contemporaries—in this case, American and European photographers grappling with similar matters of composition and form, rather than other Mexican artists raising questions of nation, identity, or class. Along these lines, the first Bravo images we meet are the most abstract and artificially composed. “Juego de Papel,” for instance, features a scroll of adding paper positioned in billowing rolls that resemble Gehry architecture. “Instrumental,” a still life of steel hardware tools, echoes Edward Weston’s elegance.
From here, we proceed into an exhibition organized by subject into categories titled The City, Landscapes, Women, Walls, Agrarian Labor and Factory Work, among others. Dividing the show in such a way asks us, initially, to take the photographs at face value. At this level, Bravo’s art is exquisitely, rigorously composed, and imbued with a deep love for the subjects before him. He had an eye for the uncanny details in Mexico City’s streetscapes, and noticed everything, from the odd beauty of storefront signs to the curious symmetry in public spaces.
But while he let his eyes guide him, he never took the act of seeing for granted, a fact underlined by the exhibition’s title piece, “Parabola Optica.” This photograph depicts an optician’s shop, shot from the view of a pedestrian passing by. Only something is not quite right—the photo has been printed in reverse, and is not as simple as it first seems. Many of Bravo’s photographs unfold in similar ways, revealing his concern for the social and political issues represented by the visual world. The show could have just as easily been organized into categories like these: Social Divisions, Iconography and Nationalism, Poverty, Isolation. As it is, these themes arise between the lines, offering themselves up for interpretation.
Optical Parables runs through Feb. 9. Walker Art Center, 725 Vineland Place, Mpls. 612-375-7622.
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