Man Ray, African art, and the modernist lens

Catalogue of an exhibition held at the Phillips Collection from 10 Oct. 2009 to 10 Jan. 2010 ; at the University of New Mexico Art Museum from 6 Feb. to 30 May 2010 ; at the University of Virginia Museum of Art from 7 Aug. to 10 Oct. 2010 ; at the University of British Columbia, Museum of Anthropology from 29 Oct. 2010 to 23 Jan. 2011.
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We cite from the COVER:
"Man Ray, African Art, and the Modernist Lens is a groundbreaking study in which the confluence of Modernist photography and the "discovery" of African art by the early twentieth-century avant-garde is closely examined for the first time. Featuring more than seventy photographs by Man Ray—some never previously reproduced—this book reveals a virtually unknown chapter in the life of this celebrated artist."
"Situating Man Ray's photographs within the diverse contexts in which they were produced and circulated, this book opens a window on to key concerns of the day and provides new insight into the transatlantic dialogues in which the images participated. Meticulously researched and compellingly presented, Man Ray, African Art, and the Modernist Lens and the exhibition it accompanies raise thought-provoking questions about how photographs of African objects have shaped our ideas about African art and, in turn, how these images contributed to multiple Modernist viewpoints."
"Also central to this investigation are many rarely seen photographs of African art by a number of Man Ray's European and American contemporaries, including work by luminaries such as Alfred Stieglitz, Walker Evans, André Kertesz, and Joseph Sudek as well as by lesser-known practitioners of the Harlem Renaissance like James L.Allen and Marjorie Griffiths. The diverse pursuits such works illustrate demonstrate the significant role photographs played in transforming Western perceptions of African objects from artifact to high art. Addressing critical concerns of representation, race, gender, and cultural appropriation, Grossman's provocative study challenges the terms on which discussions of Modernist Primitivism conventionally have been based, providing a fresh perspective to this contested terrain."
"A particularly notable aspect of this publication is the attention given to the African pieces themselves, treated here both as integral components of the Modernist history to which they contributed and as objects with their own independent cultural histories. Illustrated entries by renowned scholars of African art on the specific objects featured in the photographs foreground the indigenous contexts in which these objects originally functioned, providing the reader a rare opportunity to view these works literally and figuratively framed through radically different lenses."
"Grossman's work is a tour-de-force presentation of a complex and fascinating artist and subject, shedding light on the way in which African art acquired new meanings in conjunction with the legitimization of photography as a Modernist art form. Focused studies by several international scholars provide additional insight into the work of artists introduced in the text and further enhance the publication. Revealing a more complex engagement with African art by Man Ray and his contemporaries than has previously been explored, Grossman and her collaborators provide a rich and highly nuanced study that makes an important contribution to our understanding of Modernist ideas rooted in the first half of the twentieth century that continue to influence the way we see African art today."
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