Roy DeCarava Was Early to Recognize the Artistic Power of Photography
Check out a new solo exhibition on the late-master at David Zwirner London.
David Zwirner is showcasing a solo exhibition of work by the late-master photographer, Roy DeCarava. Housed at the gallery’s London location, the show is the first of its kind since his inclusion at Tate Modern’s Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power exhibition in 2017.
DeCarava was a lifelong New Yorker who began his career as a painter, before turning to photography by the mid-1940s. By experimenting with silver gelatin’s rich tonalities, the photographer imbued a deeply human treatment to his subjects and scenes, which included life around Harlem and various Jazz legends, such as John Coltrane, Sarah Vaughn, Dizzy Gillespie and Billie Holiday, amongst many.
Staying true to his roots, DeCarava did not want his photographs to be seen merely as visual documentation, but rather a distinct mode of artistic expression. “My photographs are subjective and personal―they’re intended to be accessible, to relate to people’s lives.… People―their well-being and survival―are the crux of what’s important to me,” he said in a past statement.
The photographer particularly wanted to inquire into the shadowed parts of a photograph, “or how much could be imagined into those shadows,” wrote the art historian, Teju Cole. “Roy DeCarava: Selected Works” is currently on view at David Zwirner London until February 19.
Elsewhere in art, Frieze Sculpture has been canceled in LA due to COVID-delays.
David Zwirner
24 Grafton Street
London
