VISITES — FÉVRIER 2009Inferno at the Musée de l’Elysée — Lausanne
Cheong Kwon, 30 janvier 09
“Le Paradis, ou Presque / Los Angeles (1865-2008)” on view at the venerable Musée de L’Elysée Lausanne until April 19th, is one of the most discouraging exhibitions I have seen of late. Yes, there are singular photographs that are arresting. Yes, the space of the museum is spectacular. Yes, among the photographers shown was a veritable list of who’s who in photography : Lee Friedlander, Richard Avedon, Catherine Opie, Edward Weston, Mary Ellen Mark and Herb Ritts. But this viewer walked away with a distinct impression that the show was a misguided suburban effort in photographic tourism. How, among this roster of distinct photographers, does one assemble an exhibition which, in its’ effort to depict a compelling and complex Los Angeles, creates instead an indecipherable stew of seemingly touristic snapshots?
Simply put, the curators tried too hard to understand Los Angeles and left the viewer with little impression. The press release states “There are seven sections to the exhibition: Garden, Move, Work, Dwell, Play, Clash, and Dream. These sections are meant to help us think about the key aspects of life in Los Angeles, aspects which touch everyone, rich or poor, in fundamental ways. However, the seven sections are only meant as a rough guide to the rich pictoral terrain, and viewers are encouraged to strike out on their own journey through the highways and byways of this compelling city.”
By attempting to organize the show in this way, Jennifer A. Watts et Claudia Bohn-Spector did not offer the “widest possible range of photographic approaches towards a city…that has long fascinated photographers”, but instead constructed secondary, or in this case, septième readings of what is an often mythical place. It was as if each of the individual seven sections attempted the same repetitive historical and contemporary readings of photography in general, which rather diminished both the photographic works and the construct of the exhibition. The experience could be likened to walking into seven different galleries and never getting an impression of any singular discourse, either about Los Angeles or of the didactic “section” which was so irritatingly announced with ramshackle signage in each room.
I cannot leave this review without mentioning my personal favorite LA photographer (not included in the show): Dean Chamberlain, who quintessentially represents Le Paradis, ou Presque, of Los Angeles.
www.deanchamberlain.com
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