Fins, Wings and Other Such Things: Photos from the Polaroid Collections
August 18, 2007 - February 10, 2008
Deer, bison, and horses charge across a stone ceiling of the Lascaux cave in France. Ancient artists' renderings engendered good luck for the hunt, or, perhaps, documented the last one. Humans have always used art to communicate the importance of animals, both friend and foe, as part of life.
The photographs in this exhibition continue this practice. They are culled from the Polaroid Collections, an archive of more than 16,000 images made by world-class, contemporary photographers. Using a variety of Polaroid instant films, these professionals have described our fellow creatures. Some made traditional photographs — exemplified by Ansel Adams'
Winter Sunrise, Sierra Nevada, from Lone Pine, California — while others experimented with subjects, techniques, and technology. Bettina Rheims, for instance, created a heroic studio portrait of a rooster, whereas William Albert Allard and Laura Blacklow documented pigs rooting around village streets. Using her camera like a microscope, Andrea Wolff transformed bugs and spiders into surprisingly gorgeous scientific specimens. With wry wit, William Wegman crafted his pets' portrait to look like a snapshot. Sergio Tornaghi's unique process transformed a photographic print into a shape that echoes the appearance and motion of the sea. Whatever their intent or methodology, their artistry enhances the world.
This exhibition is a collaborative project in undertaken by the museum in conjunction with the Lexington Symphony Orchestra and Polaroid. Music Director Jonathan McPhee has "choreographed" popular works by Mascagni, Mendelssohn, Sibelius, and Gounod to connect with photos of animals selected from the esteemed corporate collection, which will be shown on a large screen during the Lexington Symphony's "Sight and Sound" performances on November 3, 2007, and February 9 and 10, 2008.