Brett Weston
Brett Weston: Out of the Shadow to open at the OKCMOA March 20-May 18, 2008
For Immediate Release
February 28, 2008
Media Contact:
Leslie Spears, Communications Manager
405-278-8206 direct , lspears@okcmoa.com
High rez images available at the bottom of this page
Oklahoma City, OK – The Oklahoma City Museum of Art will be the first venue for Brett Weston: Out of the Shadow, March 20 through May 18, 2008. The exhibition is the first major retrospective of Brett Weston’s work in over 30 years. Although Brett Weston was a key player in the photography world during his lifetime, he was often overshadowed by his father, Edward. Brett Weston: Out of the Shadow will bring to light the younger Weston’s unique creative spirit by examining his long career. The exhibition presents 136 photographs taken in Mexico and California in the 1920s and 1930s, East Coast images from the 1940s, and landscape and nature photographs taken after he returned to the West Coast in 1948. Many of these images push toward pure abstraction, putting Weston at the forefront of non-objective, fine-art photography.
“The average visitor does not often understand the language of abstraction, so it will be enlightening to the public to see how Weston used representation as a springboard into abstraction, sometimes creating photographs that have no real reference to the world around us, even though they are depictions of an aspect of nature or architecture,” said Stephen Bennett Phillips, organizing curator. “Through the exhibition, the public will gain a better understanding of the artist’s process.”
The exhibition will be installed chronologically to show the evolution of Weston’s style and subject matter. The second son of Edward Weston, Brett began making his first photographs with a small Graflex 3 1/4 x 4 1/4 camera in 1925, when he accompanied his father to Mexico. The exhibition opens with several photographs that Weston took while in Mexico. They reveal his understanding of form and composition, which he learned firsthand from important modern artists of the day such as Tina Modotti, Frida Kahlo, Jose Clemente Orozco, and Diego Rivera. In these early works, Brett used the technical qualities of the camera to frame objects close up and push subject matter toward abstraction.
The next section focuses on photographs Brett took in California in the late 1920s and the 1930s. These images include forms in nature and in the cityscape that intrigued him. It was during this time that Brett worked closely with his father. Edward introduced his son’s work to the art world by including twenty of Brett’s photographs in a show at the University of California. Brett then became his father’s professional partner, helping him with commercial work in the studio they shared in San Francisco. At the age of eighteen, Brett’s work was featured for the first time internationally in the “Film und Foto” exhibition in Stuttgart, Germany, where twenty of his photographs hung alongside prints by Edward Steichen, Berenice Abbott, Imogen Cunningham, Man Ray, and Charles Sheeler. Brett’s photographs from the exhibition were reproduced in numerous periodicals. His father wrote, “I can say without hesitation that he is now one of the finest photographers in this country – which means the world.”
In 1932, the M.H. de Young Museum in San Francisco exhibited Brett’s first major retrospective; that same year, he was invited to join “Group f/64.” Brett directed California’s photography department for the Federal Arts project in 1935. In 1943, he enlisted in the Army. When he was discharged in 1947, he was awarded a Guggenheim grant to photograph up and down the East Coast.
Brett returned to California in 1948 to help care for his father, who had Parkinson’s disease, and helped print his father’s photographs. It was on his trip back that he became enchanted with the landscape in New Mexico, especially the desert there, and captured many images of that part of the world. His representational images from this period are almost cinemagraphic. When Edward died in 1958, Brett returned full time to his own art and his maturity as a photographer evolved. In the following decades, he continued to create fine art images of landscape and nature. During the 1960s and 70s, Brett made several trips to Europe, photographing forms and textures that interested him in Great Britain, Portugal, Austria and Greece, among other countries. In the late 1970s, Brett built a house in Hawaii, where he worked and lived most of the rest of his life, dying in Kona, Hawaii in 1993.
Co-organized by the Phillips Collection and the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, in cooperation with the Brett Weston Archive, Brett Weston: Out of the Shadow will debut at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, March 20 through May 18, 2008, and then travel to the Phillips Collection before going on a national tour, including the Santa Barbara Museum of Art. A fully-illustrated catalogue will accompany the exhibition. Exhibition lenders are the Oklahoma City Museum of Art; The Brett Weston Archive; The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.; and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The following programs will be available at the Oklahoma City venue.
General exhibition information
| LOCATION | Oklahoma City Museum of Art, located in downtown Northeast of the Civic Center Music Hall |
| CONTACT | (405) 236-3100, ext. 237, www.okcmoa.com |
| HOURS | Tues-Sat, 10am-5pm; Thurs., 10am-9pm; Sun., Noon-5pm (Closed Monday) |
| ADMISSION | $9 adults, $7 seniors & students, Free for children 5 & under & members |
| GROUPS | Groups 15+ $7 per person (3 week advance notice required) For group tours call (405) 278-8207 |
EXHIBITION SUPPORT AND PROGRAMS
MEDIA PREVIEW
Wednesday, March 18, 11am-1pm
Contact Leslie A. Spears, (405) 278-8206, lspears@okcmoa.com
OPENING LECTURE
“Brett Weston: Out of the Shadow” presented by Stephen Bennett Phillips, co-curator for Brett Weston: Out of the Shadow
Wednesday, March 19, 2008, 5:00-6:00 p.m.
Free to the public with paid Museum admission and to Museum members.
Reservations are required. Please call (405) 236-3100, ext. 213.
PHOTO SLAM
Showcasing the work of twelve selected Oklahoma photographers.
Presented by Oklahoma City Museum of Art, International Photography Hall of Fame & Museum, and Oklahoma Visual Arts Coalition.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008, 7:00-8:00 p.m.
Free to the public with paid Museum admission and to Museum members.
Reservations are required. Please call (405) 236-3100, ext. 213.
PHOTO + ART + FILM
A film series about the intersection between fine art photography and documentary filmmaking. Thursday nights in April at the Noble Theater in the Oklahoma City Museum of Art.
SUPER SATURDAY FOR FAMILIES
Saturday, April 5, 2008, Noon-4:00 p.m.
Celebrate Brett Weston: Out of the Shadow with a special, fun-filled afternoon of photography.
Free to the public with paid Museum admission and to Museum members. Reservations not necessary.
TEACHER WORKSHOP
Thursday, April 10, 2008, 5:00-8:00 p.m.
$10; registration is required. Please call (405) 236-3100, ext. 213.
MUSEUM SCHOOL CLASSES
A variety of classes and workshops inspired by the special exhibition will be offered March through May for ages 15 months to adult.
ABOUT OKCMOA
Accredited by the American Association of Museums, the Oklahoma City Museum of Art serves 170,000 visitors annually from all fifty states and over forty foreign countries and hosts special exhibitions drawn from throughout the world. The Museum is home to an extensive permanent collection of European and American art, including the most comprehensive collection of Dale Chihuly glass in the world, and the Midwest’s premiere repertoire cinema, which presents the finest international, independent, and classic films. Amenities include the Museum’s Library Resource Center, Museum Store, and Museum School, which offers classes for students of all ages as well as fall, winter, and summer camps for youths. The Museum is also home to the Museum Cafe, whose French-fusion cuisine is complemented by a full-service bar complete with cocktails, specialty coffees, and afternoon tea.
High rez images are available by clicking on the links. Once the file is opened, right click and save as to your source.
Brett Weston (American, 1911-1993). Building Reflections, c. 1975. Silver gelatin photograph; 11 x 14 in. The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. Gift of the Brett Weston Archive from the Christian K. Keesee Collection, 2006
Brett Weston (American, 1911-1993). Cactus, Santa Barbara, 1931. Silver gelatin photograph; 8 x 10 in. The Brett Weston Archive. Courtesy, The Christian K. Keesee Collection
Brett Weston (American, 1911-1993). Dune, Oceano, 1934. Silver gelatin photograph; 8 x 10 in. The Brett Weston Archive. Courtesy, The Christian K. Keesee Collection
Brett Weston (American, 1911-1993). Garrapata Beach, California, 1954. Silver gelatin photograph; 11 x 14 in. The Brett Weston Archive. Courtesy, The Christian Keesee Collection
Brett Weston (American, 1911-1993). Holland Canal, 1971. Silver gelatin photograph; 8 x 10 in. The Brett Weston Archive. Courtesy, The Christian K. Keesee Collection
Brett Weston (American, 1911-1993). Kelp and Sand, c. 1970. Silver gelatin photograph; 11 x 14 in. The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. Gift of the Brett Weston Archive from the Christian K. Keesee Collection, 2006
