On Saturday, July 26, at 3 p.m., the Nassau County Museum of Art will host a talk by Cathleen Chaffee, “Imitations of Life: Reassessing 1970s Realism.”
In conjunction with the exhibition, “Still Life: 1970s Photorealism,” Chaffee, the exhibition’s curator, discusses the paintings, sculpture and prints included in this exhibition. She places this important art movement in the context of critical and audience reception at the time.
Photorealists, among them Chuck Close, Audrey Flack, Ralph Goings, Duane Hanson, Malcolm Morley, Ben Schonzeit and Idelle Weber, took photography as their subject, recreating street scenes and bodies with amazing accuracy.
A significant trend in art of the 1970s, Photorealism has sometimes been described since then as a more mechanical offshoot of 1960s Pop art.
However, the works in “Still Life” make a compelling argument that Photorealists captured life in the 1970s with a grittier honesty than has previously been acknowledged. The works on view in the exhibition have renewed relevance as the ability of photography to capture “the real” has undergone dramatic changes and continues to develop in unanticipated ways.
Admission to the talk is $15 (members, $5) and includes admission to the museum.
The Nassau County Museum of Art is located at 1 Museum Drive, Roslyn Harbor. Call 516-484-9337 for current exhibitions, events, days/times and directions or log onto nassaumuseum.org.
