June 2003 - Nr. 6
Photographs
of 21st-Century America
at the Martin-Gropius-Bau
TWIG - A major exhibition of works by U.S. photographers will be on display this summer at the Martin Gropius Building in Berlin. "The American Scene 2000," which runs from June 6 through August 24, presents American society at the dawn of the 21st century through the eyes of 35 photographers and 15 writers from the United States. Berlin will be the first European stop for the show, which opened at the Museum of Photographic Arts in San Diego and has completed a tour in the U.S.
Curated by James Enyeart of the Marion Center for Photographic Arts in Santa Fe, the exhibit is made up of some 160 specially commissioned pieces, including photo series, photomontages, installations and listening and reading stations as well as individual photographs. Artists and writers were asked to create works that reflect America at the turn of the millennium.
Featured photographers include William Christenberry, Lee Friedlander, Mary Ellen Mark, Stephen Shore and Joel Sternfeld. Poets Jorie Graham, Linda Hogan, Charles Wright, Ann Lauterbach, Jay Wright and Robert Hass are also represented in the show. Enyeart, who conceived the project as a kind of "national millennium survey," is an honorary member of the German Society for Photography and a member of the advisory board for the German Center for Photography.
