The Eyes Have It

Connecting with the Collection:
Photographic Portraits

Opening its archives, the Erie Art Museum presents Connecting with the
Collection: Photographic Portraits at its Frenzel Gallery.

Approximately 40 images from classic to contemporary photographers
are featured within the show. From Alfred Stieglitz and Edward S. Curtis to
contemporary images from area artists.

Co-curated EAM Executive Director Laura Domencic and Brian
Cohen, a Pittsburgh photographer, Connecting presents a variety of imagery
in all its facets: street photography, documentary style, fashion and historical.

From Sergei Balkin’s glamorous images of high-fashion models
bedecked in mid 20th century finery, to Arthur Rothstein’s Eddie Mitchell,
Colored Balcony (1940), that shows a black man casually loitering on the street
near a movie theater proudly promoting its segregated balcony to Kenneth
Graves’ humorous Cafe, Hoboken, NJ (1983), portraying a wailing
saxophonist performing to an unimpressed audience of one.

Or, Rick Smolan’s Stranger and Stranger, (no date) at first glance a
straightforward documentary-style image: two middle-aged men standing
outside the corner of a building, one snapping a picture. Yet when one notices
that they appear to be casually standing on the ledge of a building transforms
the image from standard to simply surreal.

Offering a spectrum of worthwhile imagery, EAM’s Connecting with the
Collection should definitely connect with visitors.
—GG

Connecting with the Collection: Photographic Portraits runs through June
25th. Erie Art Museum, 20 E. 5th St., Erie, PA 16507. For more information call
814-459-5477 or visit [email protected]