Ray K. Metzker

Overview

Ray K. Metzker was born on September 10, 1931, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Between 1956 and1959, he studied at the Institute of Design in Chicago—an institution then known as the NewBauhaus—where he inherited the legacy of avant-garde photography that had emerged in Europe during the 1920s. Techniques such as composites, photomontage, negative layering, image juxtapositions, solarization, and other formal innovations form an integral part of his visual language.

From a young age, Metzker devoted himself to exploring the full potential of black-and-white photography. Whether during the act of shooting or in the darkroom, he crafted images with remarkable precision and technical mastery. Passionate about experimentation, he would analyze, deconstruct, juxtapose, or reassemble certain photographs to create unique visual compositions. Walking the streets, he captured hurried passersby and the city’s subtle interplay of shadows—always in black and white, always using analog techniques.

Over the course of a five-decade career, during which he pioneered a new and distinctive visual vocabulary, Metzker came to be recognized as one of the great masters of American photography.

Ray K. Metzker passed away on October 9, 2014, at the age of 83, in Philadelphia.

Works

Video

Les formes de l'eau | Exposition collective
Rencontre avec Éric Rémy, commissaire de l'exposition 27 June 2023

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Biography

Expositions personnelles (sélection)

2020 When hands weave the light, Les Douches la Galerie, Paris
2019    Ray K. Metzker, Black and Light, Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York
2017   Ray K. Metzker, Abstractions, Les Douches la Galerie, Paris
2016   Ray K. Metzker: Stripteases + Penn Center Pieces, Laurence Miller Gallery, New York
2015   Ray Metzker, The Poet of Light, Laurence Miller Gallery, New York
2013   The Photographs of Ray K. Metzker, J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
2007   Ray K. Metzker : Notes de lumière, Musée de l’Élysée, Lausanne
2006   Ray K. Metzker, Galerie Françoise Paviot, Paris
2003   My Philadelphia!, Locks Gallery, Philadelphie
2000   Urban Shadows, Stephen Daiter Gallery, Chicago
   Voyage of Discovery: The landscape Photographs of Ray Metzker, Philadelphia Museum of Art
1997   Ray K. Metzker, Galerie Françoise Paviot, Paris
1995   Anticipating the Composites, Laurence Miller Gallery, New York
1992   Shadai Gallery, Tokyo/ Turner, Krull Gallery, Los Angeles
1991   A New Leaf: Photographs by Ray Metzker, The Art Institute of Chicago.
1990   Composites, Laurence Miller Gallery, New York
1988   Earthly Delights, Laurence Miller Gallery, New York
1986   Unknow Territory, Photographs by Ray K. Metzker, Smithsonian Institute, Washington DC
1984   Unknown Territory, Photographs by Ray K. Metzker, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
1983   Ray K. Metzker: Photographs, Multiple means, Multiple Ends, Carl Solway Gallery
   City Whispers, Catskill Center of Photography, Woodstock, New York
   Ray Metzker Photographs, Edwynn Houk Gallery, Chicago
1979   Ray K. Metzker: Multiple Concerns, Galerie Delpire, Paris
1978   Ray K. Metzker: Multiple Concerns, International Center of Photography, New York
   Pictus Interruptus, Locks Gallery, Philadelphie.
1976   Ray K. Metzker, The picture Gallery, Zurich
1974   New Mexico, Dayton College of Art, Ohio
1968   Ray K. Metzker and Paul Caponigro, Photographer’s Gallery, New York.
1964-65 Composites, MoMa, New York
1959   My camera and I in the Loop, The Art Institute of Chicago
Expositions collectives (sélection)

2019    We were five – Cinq étudiants de l’Institute of Design et la revue Aperture, Musée Réattu, Arles
2017   Black Chicago, Les Douches la Galerie, Paris
2016   Lux: The radiant sea, Yancey Richardson Gallery, New York
   Make Light Of It, Pace/MacGil Gallery, New York
   Small Things Considered II, Laurence Miller Gallery, New York
2015   Black & White, Albertina Museum, Vienna
   New York, Les Douches la Galerie, Paris
2014   Thirty Years Thirth-one Photographers, Laurence Miller Gallery, New York
2009   Masters of Photography, Gallery Fifty One, Antwerp, Belgium
2007   Past present future I, Laurence Miller Gallery, New York
2006   Summer vacation: Photographs from the collection, Philadelphia Museum of Art
2004   Photography: Inaugural Installation, MoMa, New York
2000   MoMA2000: Making Choices-Seeing Double, MoMa, New York
1999   Le siècle du corps, Photographies 1900-2000, Musée de l?Élysée, Lausanne
1993   Multiple Images: Photographs Since 1965 from the collection, MoMa, New York
1990   Photography until now, MoMa, New York
1983   Big pictures by Contemporary Photographers, MoMa, New York
1980-81 Absage ab das Einzelbild, Museum Folkwang, Essen, Allemagne
   Erweiterte Fotografie, Wiener Secession, Autriche
1979   Contemporary American Photographers: Curator’s Choice Venezia ‘79, Venise, Italie
1976   New Exposures, Museum of Fine Arts, Chicago
1973   Landscape/Cityscape, A selection of Twentieth-Century American Photographs, MET, New York
1970   New Phtography, USA, MoMa, New York
1968   Photography as Printmaking, MoMa, New York
   Photography and the City, Smithsonian Insitution, Washington DC
1967   The persistence of Vision, George Eastman House, Rochester, New York
1963   Photography 63/An International Exhibition, George Eastman House, Rochester, New York
1960-61 The Sense of Abstraction in Contemporary Photography, MoMa, New York
1959   Photography in the Fine Arts I, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
   Photographs from the Museum Collection, MoMa, New York
Publications

2018 Ray K. Metzker Unknown, Only Photography, Berlin

2012 The Photographs of Ray K. Metzker, Keith Davis, Yale University Press

2009 Ray K Metzker, Automagic, Only Photography, Berlin
2008   Ray K. Metzker : Notes de lumière, Musée de l’Élysée de Lausanne
2000   Turner Evan, Ray K. Metzker, Landscapes, New York, Aperture
1999   Miller Laurence, Ray K. Metzker, City Stills, Munich, Prestel
1990   Ray K. Metzker: Composites, New York, Laurence Miller Gallery
1988   Ray K. Metzker: Earthly Delight, New York, Laurence Miller Gallery
1984   Tucker Anne, Unknow Territory: Photographs by Ray K. Metzker, New York, Aperture/Houston, The Museum of Fine Arts
1979   Ray K. Metzker: Sand Creatures, Millerton, New York, Aperture, 1979.
Récompenses
2000   Royal Photographic Society’s Centenary Medal and Honorary Fellowship
1989   Bernheim Fellowship at the Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest, Clermont,            Kentucky.
1988   National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship
1975   National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship
1966   Guggenheim Fellowship, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation

Bibliography

2018   Ray K. Metzker Unknown, Only Photography, Berlin
2012   The Photographs of Ray K. Metzker, Keith Davis, Yale University Press
2009   Ray K Metzker, Automagic, Only Photography, Berlin
2008   Ray K. Metzker : Notes de lumière, Musée de l’Élysée de Lausanne
2000   Ray K. Metzker, Landscapes, Evan Turner, New York, Aperture
1999   Ray K. Metzker, City Stills, Laurence Miller, Munich, Prestel
1990   Ray K. Metzker: Composites, New York, Laurence Miller Gallery
1988   Ray K. Metzker: Earthly Delight, New York, Laurence Miller Gallery
1984   Unknow Territory: Photographs by Ray K. Metzker, Anne Tucker, New York, Aperture/Houston, The Museum of Fine Arts
1979   Ray K. Metzker: Sand Creatures, Millerton, New York, Aperture, 1979.