Richard Misrach ‘13 Dark Pictures’

On View At Pace/MacGill Gallery

FOR 11/30

RICHARD MISRACH ‘13 DARK PICTURES’  AT PACE/MACGILL GALLERY NOV. 29 w/ 1 cut requested

ak/gs set 11/21 #720237

NEW YORK CITY — Pace/MacGill Gallery is showing “13 Dark Pictures,” through January 5, an exhibition of gelatin silver and chromogenic prints made over the course of Richard Misrach’s 35-year career. The show features work from Misrach’s “Telegraph 3 A.M.,” 1972–73, “Desert Cantos,” 1987–present, “Golden Gate,” 2001, and “On the Beach,” 2002–2005 series.

Inspired by the work of Timothy O’Sullivan, Carleton Watkins and Edward Weston, Misrach — a native Californian — first began photographing the landscapes of the American West in 1969. During late-night drives through the desert, Misrach used long exposure times and strobe lighting techniques to create stark, even haunting, images of cacti, trees, rocks and the desert floor.

Misrach found that by hyperilluminating and overexposing his subject, shadow areas emerged and highlighted areas receded. The resulting images encouraged Misrach to continue to push against photography’s technical boundaries.

By paying attention to the way common subjects look in extremely low light, Misrach allows the viewer to contemplate the simple facts of nature in, quite literally, a new light. Not unlike a luminous Hudson River School landscape paintings, his photographs are remarkable, often awe-inspiring, displays of nature’s power.

Pace/MacGill Gallery is at 32 East 57 Street. For information, www.pacemacgill.com or 212-759-7999.