The Original Copy

From its inception, photography offered an unprecedented way to analyze works of art for further study. Through experimental cropping, selection of detail, point of view, and lighting, as well as collage, montage, assemblage, and dark room manipulations, photographers have not only interpreted the works they recorded but have created stunning reinventions.

Through a selection of about 350 outstanding pictures by more than 100 artists from the 19th century to the present, the exhibition looks at the ways in which photography at once informs and challenges our understanding of sculpture. Addressing “how” and “why” sculpture became a photographic subject, the exhibition also examines specific historical and political conditions.

The exhibition features major works by Eugène Atget, Hans Bellmer, Herbert Beyer, Constantin Brancusi, Brassaï, Manuel Alvarez Bravo, Claude Cahun, Marcel Duchamp, Fischli & Weiss, Robert Frank, Lee Friedlander, David Goldblatt, Rachel Harrison, Hannah Höch, André Kertész, Man Ray, Bruce Nauman, Charles Nègre, Gillian Wearing, Hannah Wilke, and Iwao Yamawaki, among others.

The exhibition is organized by Roxana Marcoci, Curator of The Department of Photography, The Museum of Modern Art, and will be accompanied by a major publication. The exhibition will travel to Kunsthaus Zürich, where it will be on view from January 21 through April 25, 2011.