COLLECTION NAME:
The AMICA Library
mediaCollectionId
AMICO~1~1
The AMICA Library
Collection
true
AMICA ID:
CMA_.1989.451
amicoid
CMA_.1989.451
AMICA ID
false
AMICA Library Year:
1998
aly
1998
AMICA Library Year
false
Object Type:
Photographs
oty
Photographs
Object Type
false
Creator Name:
Metzker, Ray K.
crn
Metzker, Ray K.
Creator Name
false
Creator Nationality:
North American; American
crc
North American; American
Creator Nationality
false
Creator Role:
artist
crr
artist
Creator Role
false
Creator Dates/Places:
1931
cdt
1931
Creator Dates/Places
false
Biography:
Ray K. Metzker American, 1931-As a student of Arthur Siegel, Aaron Siskind, and Harry Callahan in Chicago at the Institute of Design, Illinois Institute of Technology, Ray Metzker was influenced by the spirit of photographic experimentation at the "New Bauhaus." Extending photography's formal vocabulary beyond description and into the realm of visual puzzles, Metzker is best known for his creative use of pattern, high tonal contrast, focus, print size, and composition. He first explored these issues in his single-image work of the 1950s, moving in the 1960s to make multiframe assemblages that juxtaposed highly contrasted fragments of figures, objects, and architectural elements to create kinetic patterns and mosaic grids. Envisioning an entire roll of film as one negative, Metzker describes his Composites series as an explanation of "the potential of the black-and-white still photograph to deal with the complexity of succession and simultaneity." Metzker resumed the single-image format in a series of NewMexican landscapes during the early 1970s, fusing high-contrast blocks created by buildings, leaves, and his own shadow with subjects rendered in the more traditional gradation of black-and-white tones. His Pictus Interruptus series of 1977 continued theplay of tone and perspective, wherein objects placed close to the lens appeared blurred, obscuring scenic backdrops views of Greece and Philadelphia. In 1989, with the assistance of a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and a residency from the La Napoule Foundation, Metzker photographed in the south of France for his series titled Sojourn. In this and his later series In Nature's Realm (1994), he continued to explore the photographic interplay of natural textures and forms. Born in Milwaukee,Metzker earned a B.A. in art from Beloit College (1953) and an M.S. in photography from the Institute of Design, Illinois Institute of Technology (1959). His work has been featured in one-person exhibitions at the Art Institute of Chicago (1959, 1985, 1991), the Museum of Modern Art, New York (1967), the Milwaukee Art Center (1970), the International Center of Photography, New York (1978), the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (1984), the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (1985), the Philadelphia Museum of Art (1985), the High Museum of Art, Atlanta (1986), George Eastman House, Rochester (1986), the National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C (1986), and the Cleveland Museum of Art (1991). Metzker has received fellowships from theJohn Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation (1966, 1979) and the National Endowment for the Arts (1974, 1988), an award from La Napoule Foundation, France (1989), and a Bernheim Fellowship (1989). Metzker has taught photography at the Rhode Island School of Design (1977), the University of New Mexico (1970-72), Columbia College (1980), and the Philadelphia College of Art (1962-80). He lives in Philadelphia and Moab, Utah. A.W.
crb
Ray K. Metzker American, 1931-As a student of Arthur Siegel, Aaron Siskind, and Harry Callahan in Chicago at the Institute of Design, Illinois Institute of Technology, Ray Metzker was influenced by the spirit of photographic experimentation at the "New Bauhaus." Extending photography's formal vocabulary beyond description and into the realm of visual puzzles, Metzker is best known for his creative use of pattern, high tonal contrast, focus, print size, and composition. He first explored these issues in his single-image work of the 1950s, moving in the 1960s to make multiframe assemblages that juxtaposed highly contrasted fragments of figures, objects, and architectural elements to create kinetic patterns and mosaic grids. Envisioning an entire roll of film as one negative, Metzker describes his Composites series as an explanation of "the potential of the black-and-white still photograph to deal with the complexity of succession and simultaneity." Metzker resumed the single-image format in a series of NewMexican landscapes during the early 1970s, fusing high-contrast blocks created by buildings, leaves, and his own shadow with subjects rendered in the more traditional gradation of black-and-white tones. His Pictus Interruptus series of 1977 continued theplay of tone and perspective, wherein objects placed close to the lens appeared blurred, obscuring scenic backdrops views of Greece and Philadelphia. In 1989, with the assistance of a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts and a residency from the La Napoule Foundation, Metzker photographed in the south of France for his series titled Sojourn. In this and his later series In Nature's Realm (1994), he continued to explore the photographic interplay of natural textures and forms. Born in Milwaukee,Metzker earned a B.A. in art from Beloit College (1953) and an M.S. in photography from the Institute of Design, Illinois Institute of Technology (1959). His work has been featured in one-person exhibitions at the Art Institute of Chicago (1959, 1985, 1991), the Museum of Modern Art, New York (1967), the Milwaukee Art Center (1970), the International Center of Photography, New York (1978), the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (1984), the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (1985), the Philadelphia Museum of Art (1985), the High Museum of Art, Atlanta (1986), George Eastman House, Rochester (1986), the National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C (1986), and the Cleveland Museum of Art (1991). Metzker has received fellowships from theJohn Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation (1966, 1979) and the National Endowment for the Arts (1974, 1988), an award from La Napoule Foundation, France (1989), and a Bernheim Fellowship (1989). Metzker has taught photography at the Rhode Island School of Design (1977), the University of New Mexico (1970-72), Columbia College (1980), and the Philadelphia College of Art (1962-80). He lives in Philadelphia and Moab, Utah. A.W.
Biography
false
Gender:
M
cgn
M
Gender
false
Creator Birth Place:
Milwaukee, WI
cbp
Milwaukee, WI
Creator Birth Place
false
Creator Name-CRT:
Ray K. Metzker
crt
Ray K. Metzker
Creator Name-CRT
false
Title:
Pictus Interruptus (Greece)
otn
Pictus Interruptus (Greece)
Title
false
Title Type:
Primary
ott
Primary
Title Type
false
View:
Full View
rid
Full View
View
false
Creation Date:
1979
oct
1979
Creation Date
false
Creation Start Date:
1979
ocs
1979
Creation Start Date
false
Creation End Date:
1979
oce
1979
Creation End Date
false
Materials and Techniques:
gelatin silver print
omd
gelatin silver print
Materials and Techniques
false
Classification Term:
Photography
clt
Photography
Classification Term
false
Dimensions:
Sheet: 40.5cm x 50.7cm, Image: 30cm x 41.9cm
met
Sheet: 40.5cm x 50.7cm, Image: 30cm x 41.9cm
Dimensions
false
AMICA Contributor:
The Cleveland Museum of Art
oon
The Cleveland Museum of Art
AMICA Contributor
false
Owner Location:
Cleveland, Ohio, USA
oop
Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Owner Location
false
ID Number:
1989.451
ooa
1989.451
ID Number
false
Credit Line:
Purchased with a grant from the NEA and matched by contributions from Museum members in 1989
ooc
Purchased with a grant from the NEA and matched by contributions from Museum members in 1989
Credit Line
false
Inscriptions:
Written in pencil on verso: "79 DA-15 SG-3 P3/89"; "R.K. Metzker [signed] 24/30"
oin
Written in pencil on verso: "79 DA-15 SG-3 P3/89"; "R.K. Metzker [signed] 24/30"
Inscriptions
false
Rights:
orl
<a href="http://www.clemusart.com/museum/disclaim2.html"target="_new">http://www.clemusart.com/museum/disclaim2.html</a>
Rights
false
Related Image Identifier Link:
CMA_.1989.451.tif
ril
CMA_.1989.451.tif
Related Image Identifier Link
false