As Told by Avedon, Gagosian Gallery

Though he may no longer be with us, it's clear that the work of Richard Avedon is as alive and relevant as ever. Gagosian Gallery is currently hosting a display of the esteemed photographer's portraits of radicals from the turbulent early 70s. Avedon's subjects lived extraordinary lives: their vision and accomplishments influenced the civil, artistic, and military progress of that decade that many of us take for granted.

The photos are gigantic and the space is as still as a sanctuary, creating an ambiance that resurrects the dead in black and white. It's stunning to see how, with the excessive rhetoric surrounding Occupy Wall Street, a portrait of the Chicago Seven is a bigger statement than hours of news commentary; ironic that with all the controversy over gay rights, Allen Ginsberg and Peter Orlovsky say the most by locking lips.

Through July 6th, 2012

GAGOSIAN GALLERY
522 West 21st Street
New York, NY 10011
MAP

Andy Warhol, Artist, August 14, 1969, courtesy of Gagosian Gallery and The Richard Avedon Foundation

Abbie Hoffman, Yippie, New York, September 11, 1968, courtesy of Gagosian Gallery and The Richard Avedon Foundation

Andy Warhol and members of The Factory: Gerard Malanga, poet; Viva, actress; Paul Morrissey, director; Taylor Mead, actor; Brigid Polk, actress; Joe Dallesandro, actor; Andy Warhol, artist., New York, October 9, 1969, courtesy of Gagosian Gallery and The Richard Avedon Foundation

Dao Dua, "The Coconut Monk", Mekong Monastery, Phoenix Island, South Vietnam, 1971, courtesy Gagosian Gallery and The Richard Avedon Foundation

Rose Mary Woods, secretary to President Richard Nixon, Washington D.C., August 10, 1975, courtesy Gagosian Gallery and The Richard Avedon Foundation