Man Ray – Human Equations: A Journey from Mathematics to Shakespeare
11 June – 20 September 2015
“I paint what cannot be photographed, that which comes from the imagination or from dreams, or
from an unconscious drive. I photograph the things that I do not wish to paint, the things which
already have an existence.”
- Man Ray
Man Ray (1890–1976) is famous for his iconic black-and-white photographs. He is less well known
for his paintings. This will be remedied by this summer’s main special exhibition at The Glyptotek,
co-organizes by The Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., and the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.
Featuring more than 130 works, the exhibition adds greatly to the overall story of Man Ray,
showing us an unorthodox artist who takes the Surrealists’ fascination with dreams and merges it
with hard science and classical literature.
Man Ray did paintings, too
Few people associate Man Ray with colourful, pastose oil paintings of three-dimensional
mathematical figures. A photographer who paints? A conceptual artist wrestling with traditional
figurative painting? In addition to bringing together a wide range of Man Ray’s major works,
including several of his ground-breaking photographs, the main highlight of the exhibition is a
selections from the artist’s Shakespearean Equations, a series of paintings that has never before
been exhibited in its entirety.
Mathematics – The Body – Shakespeare
In 1934, Man Ray was a frequent visitor at the Institut Henri Poincaré in Paris. His objective there
was to photograph the Institute’s collection of three-dimensional mathematical models, which
were used to illustrate the geometric properties of mathematical equations. The result was a
series of iconic photographs which, by means of dramatic lighting and daring compositions, made
the enigmatic mathematical models seem almost human.
In the 1940s he returned to this process, using his photographs as the basis for a series of 20
paintings. In some of these paintings he depicted the mathematical models on their own, in bright,
vibrant colours; in others he would insert the models in complicated Surrealist tableaux.
Augmented by titles from Shakespeare’s famous plays, these paintings added yet another
ambitious layer to Man Ray’s artistic journey, which took him back and forth between two
extremes: mathematical abstraction and human drama.
A drama in three acts
”Man Ray – Human Equations” is not arranged chronologically; instead, it follows a structure
similar to that of three acts in a play. It shows the full artistic range and scope of Man Ray’s work,
from his juvenilia to his late production, and three overarching themes focus on the material
synergy between the works. 14 paintings from Shakespearean Equations series form the main axis
of the show, providing a fundamental narrative about Man Ray’s fascination with universal
enigmas. The paintings, photographs, and original models – on loan from Institut Henri Poincaré –
offer a meeting between artistic practice and mathematical puzzles, human bodies, and drama.
The three acts present the three themes as interconnected circuits: constantly overlapping,
transforming, and returning to themselves. Only to enter into new circuits all over again.
Thought Passage and Mathematical Model Cabinet – be like Man Ray
The exhibition is directly linked to the Thought Passage. A space, where visitors can play chess or
solve equations – with or without guidance from trained specialists. You can also try the
Mathematical Model Cabinet, a feature developed especially for this exhibition: a virtual,
interactive equation transformer that allows visitors to change and vary the mathematical and
formal parameters of geometric figures, playing around with the shapes and forms used by May
Ray.
Catalogue
Man Ray – Human Equations: A Journey from Mathematics to Shakespeare.
Edited by Wendy A. Grossman and Edouard Sebline. Published by Hatje Cantz, The Phillips
Collection and The Israel Museum.
Featuring essays by Wendy A. Grossman, Adina Kamien-Kazhdan, Edouard Sebline and Andrew
Strauss.
238 pages, lavishly illustrated. English version only.
Price 299 DKK. Available from the Glyptotek bookshop.
The exhibition has been co-organized by The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C. and the Israel
Museum, Jerusalem.
The exhibition is sponsored by
For more information, please contact:
Head of Communications
Jakob Fibiger Andreasen
+45 2531 9099 / [email protected]
Curator
Line Clausen Pedersen
+45 2457 8482 / [email protected]