William Wegman Constructivism 2014. Pigment print photograph. Courtesy the artist. © William Wegman
William Wegman Cut to Reveal 1997. Colour Polaroid photograph. Courtesy the artist. © William Wegman
William Wegman Wolf 1994. Colour Polaroid photograph. Courtesy the artist. © William Wegman
This exhibition is now closed
The first and only New Zealand exhibition of American artist William Wegman’s photographic work
Dogs have occupied William Wegman’s artworks ever since he brought his Weimaraner to his studio in 1970. Being Human tracks three decades of relationships between the enigmatic American artist and his four-legged muses.
His first collaborator was the camera-loving Man Ray, an insistent participant in Wegman’s work in the 1970s who become one of his most important inspirations. In the mid-1980s, his second Weimaraner, Fay Ray, shot to true art-world stardom, followed by several generations of puppies. Wegman’s world may revolve around his celebrated dogs, but his choices of sets, costumes and props reveal a fascination with art history – cubism, colour field painting, abstract expressionism, constructivism, conceptualism and, of course, photography itself.
This exhibition has been produced by the Foundation for the Exhibition of Photography, Minneapolis/New York/Paris/Lausanne, in collaboration with Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū
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Date:
6 April – 4 August 2019 -
Exhibition number:
1066 -
Media partner
Related reading: William Wegman
Director's Foreword
William Wegman: Being Human
It’s a busy time at the Gallery, as we prepare for the opening of William Wegman: Being Human. Wegman is a very significant American artist and this is his first and only show in New Zealand, so we are thrilled to have such a thorough representation of his work on show here at Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū. Wegman, who is famous for working with his Weimaraner dogs, was part of the late 1960s and early 1970s American conceptualist movement, and has produced a huge body of work that examines the human condition through photography and video. Wegman was also one of the earliest artists to see popular culture as a platform for expanding artistic practice and gaining critical attention (he co-produced the hugely influential 1988 re-release music video for New Order’s ‘Blue Monday’ – at the time a record-breaking entry in New Zealand’s charts).
Commentary
Anthropomorphism
Artist William Wegman has been photographing his Weimaraners in endless humanoid situations for more than four decades. Starting with Man Ray in the 1970s, Fay Ray in the 1980s and her subsequent offspring ever since, Wegman’s most popular artistic foil has been his pet dogs. For a number of reasons, this has occasionally meant his work has been thought of as naïve or sentimental – a trivial comic enterprise not too dissimilar to Anne Geddes’s notorious baby photos.
Notes
Ridogulous is our new favourite word
Bishopdale Primary School's art experts are back, and they've been checking out William Wegman: Being Human.