NYAB Event - John Cohen "Early Work: 1954-1957"

John Cohen "Early Work: 1954-1957"

L. Parker Stephenson Photographs

This event has ended.

L. Parker Stephenson Photographs presents John Cohen Early Work: 1954-1957, an exhibition of photographs by filmmaker, musician, and photographer, John Cohen.

The exhibition features Cohen's early photographs, some never before seen, of the streets of New Haven, Connecticut, and rousing gospel gatherings in New York City. While attending Yale University in the 1950's, Cohen often left the painting studio to photograph the surrounding neighborhood and was drawn to the wide-ranging activities on Oak Street. The images act as a portal into a parallel world; the life of the gypsies, boxers and children in the street. In fact, the first public display of the artist's photographs took place in the gypsies' storefront window - the photographs having been decorated by the gypsies with lipstick.

In contrast to the quiet New Haven scenes, energy bursts forth as music takes control of the men, women and children in gospel churches Cohen discovered in Brooklyn and Harlem. The Jazz Review issued a multi-paged photo essay of the series in 1959, making it Cohen's first published work.

This exhibition coincides with Library of Congress' acquisition of John Cohen's archive. By acknowledging the exceptional nature of his wide-ranging oeuvre, the Library will make his photographs, films and recordings accessible to researchers and the public.

Through photography, Cohen (b. 1932) documented one of the most transformative eras in American arts. From the Beat film Pull My Daisy and gallery happenings by early performance artists, to young Bob Dylan's arrival in New York and Abstract Expressionist gatherings at the Cedar Bar, Cohen was present to record what are now historical events in the late 1950's and early 60's. Beyond the United States, Cohen traveled extensively to Peru, driven by a fascination for the weaving and lifestyle of the native Andean population. Photographs and recordings are available in Past, Present, Peru (2010) a multi-volume set produced by Steidl. More John Cohen titles by Steidl are expected out this year and next. Signed copies of his first monograph, There is No Eye (2001), are available at the gallery.

Cohen's photographs have been exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions and are in the collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, New York Public Library, Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery, and Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Cohen is also well known and has been greatly influential in the world of American folk music. As founding member of the band The New Lost City Ramblers in 1958, he was also the driving force for the field's revival and appreciation. In his quest to follow its roots he visited Appalachia to witness, film and record a vanishing generation of musicians and singers. CDs of his field recordings and his own bands are available through Smithsonian Folkways Records and he continues to perform regularly.