NYAB Event - "TINA, Under the Mexican Sky" Exhibition

"TINA, Under the Mexican Sky" Exhibition

Throckmorton Fine Art

This event has ended.

"TINA, Under the Mexican Sky" is an exhibition of thirty-five rare vintage prints by Tina Modotti. Some of the works shown are unique images. Modotti only took photographs during her seven tumultuous years in Mexico, from 1923-1930. It is estimated that her artistic legacy is limited to six hundred photographs, the majority of which are now in museum collections. Gathered for this exhibit is the largest group of Modotti photographs still in private hands. Although Modotti learned photography from Edward Weston, with whom she had a long, intimate relationship, her photography is distinct from his work. Modotti’s images fit into the innovative photography of the 1920s that pushed the boundaries of the medium— and of art itself. This work, often called modernist photography, embraced experimentation, unusual points of view, and unconventional subjects. Modotti’s subject matter varies, including as it does crowd scenes, industrial views, Mexican folk culture, flora, and even portraits. Her compositions, though, mark her work: there are strong angles and an unnerving starkness that give her photographs a captivating immediacy.During their years together in Mexico, Modotti and Weston were part of a celebrated circle of artists and intellectuals, including Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. Modotti’s involvement in politics led to her expulsion from Mexico in 1930. Leaving Mexico, she became even more consumed by politics, ending her work as a photographer. She leaves us, though, a rich body of images, which is amply represented in this exhibit.