PDNB : NEAL SLAVIN

Photographs Do Not Bend Gallery

NEAL SLAVIN
When Two or More are Gathered Together
November 4 - December 3, 2005

group, n. (F. groupe, fr. It. gruppo, groppo, cluster, bunch, packet, group, prob. of Teut. origin. See crop.)1. Fine Arts. Two or more figures forming a design or taken as a distinctive unit in a more complicated design; as, the Laocoön group; a group of soldiers.
2. An assemblage of persons or things regarded as a unit because of their comparative segregation from others; a cluster; aggregation; as, a group of trees or of islands.
3. An assemblage of objects in a certain order or relation, or having some resemblance or common characteristic.

DALLAS, TX - Photographs Do Not Bend Gallery is presenting yet another influential artist from the 1970's. When you talk about group portraits in contemporary art, you think of Neal Slavin.

When the Pop art movement and minimalism took hold, photographers such as Neal Slavin, Bill Owens, Lee Friedlander, and Garry Winogrand began to photograph the ordinary. This movement in photography broke many rules in the medium and began to change the map.

Groups, an identifying force of people with the same attributes, the same talent, the same job, the same hobby--all define a social order. Phenomenally each individual is destined to be part of a group.

Neal's photographs include the serious and the silly. A group of Sabrett hot dog vendors gather for a portrait in front of their headquarters in New York City. Some vendors stand behind their carts in the foreground. Each person has a telltale appearance of years of street vending. The Lloyd Rod and Gun Club features a group of men brandishing their shotguns, ready for a hunt with friends. And then there is a group portrait of senior veterans inside their dingy VFW Post saluting the flag. You get the impression these soldiers are empathetic friends that often gather to pay tribute to their country and trade war stories. These photographs illustrate the profound significance of groups in our culture.

Neal Slavin is a visual artist, writer, film director and filmmaker as well as an editorial photographer. His photographs are in many important museum collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, the George Eastman House, Rochester, NY, the Houston Museum of Fine Arts and the National Museum of American Art, Washington D.C. He has three monographs: Britons, When Two or More are Gathered Together and Portugal.

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NEAL SLAVIN When Two or More are Gathered Together November 4 - December 3, 2005 group, n. (F. groupe, fr. It. gruppo, groppo, cluster, bunch, packet, group, prob. of Teut. origin. See crop.)1. Fine Arts. Two or more figures forming a design or taken as a distinctive unit in a more complicated design; as, the Laocoön group; a group of soldiers. 2. An assemblage of persons or things regarded as a unit because of their comparative segregation from others; a cluster; aggregation; as, a group of trees or of islands. 3. An assemblage of objects in a certain order or relation, or having some resemblance or common characteristic. DALLAS, TX - Photographs Do Not Bend Gallery is presenting yet another influential artist from the 1970's. When you talk about group portraits in contemporary art, you think of Neal Slavin. When the Pop art movement and minimalism took hold, photographers such as Neal Slavin, Bill Owens, Lee Friedlander, and Garry Winogrand began to photograph the ordinary. This movement in photography broke many rules in the medium and began to change the map. Groups, an identifying force of people with the same attributes, the same talent, the same job, the same hobby--all define a social order. Phenomenally each individual is destined to be part of a group. Neal's photographs include the serious and the silly. A group of Sabrett hot dog vendors gather for a portrait in front of their headquarters in New York City. Some vendors stand behind their carts in the foreground. Each person has a telltale appearance of years of street vending. The Lloyd Rod and Gun Club features a group of men brandishing their shotguns, ready for a hunt with friends. And then there is a group portrait of senior veterans inside their dingy VFW Post saluting the flag. You get the impression these soldiers are empathetic friends that often gather to pay tribute to their country and trade war stories. These photographs illustrate the profound significance of groups in our culture. Neal Slavin is a visual artist, writer, film director and filmmaker as well as an editorial photographer. His photographs are in many important museum collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, the George Eastman House, Rochester, NY, the Houston Museum of Fine Arts and the National Museum of American Art, Washington D.C. He has three monographs: Britons, When Two or More are Gathered Together and Portugal. HOME - CONTACT - PURCHASE