Man Ray LE VIOLON D'INGRES (INGRES' VIOLIN)   1924

Born Emmanuel Radnitsky in Philadelphia in 1890, Man Ray grew up in Brooklyn and began his career as a painter. He bought his first camera in 1914, intending to use it to document his work, but soon turned his attention to the exploration of photography as an art form. In 1921, at the urging of fellow Dadaists Marcel Duchamp and Francis Picabia, Man Ray moved to Paris to join the growing cultural avant-garde. There he worked in painting and photography while supporting himself through portrait commissions and fashion photography, which appeared regularly in such magazines as Harper's Bazaar and Vogue during the 1930s. After the Germans invaded Paris in 1940, Man Ray returned to the United States, settling in Hollywood with the intention of pursuing filmmaking. Although he stayed in Hollywood for a decade, he became disenchanted with the film world and instead spent his time painting, writing, and taking photographs. In 1951 he returned to Paris, where he lived and worked until his death in 1976.

Man Ray LARMES (TEARS)  1930Ç1933

A Practical Dreamer: The Photographs of Man Ray was organized by the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, and drawn from its extensive archive of Man Ray's photographs. It includes more than 100 vintage prints that span the years 1916 to 1951 and provide a broad sampling of his imagery, which ranges from cityscapes, portraits, and nudes to abstract compositions and Surrealist scenarios. Constantly challenging the technical possibilities of the medium, he experimented with contact printing, under- and overexposing prints, superimposing negatives, and shooting through various fabrics and filters; a large selection of such explorations will be on view. His work as a portrait photographer is highlighted through photographs of cultural luminaries such as Marcel Duchamp, Gertrude Stein, James Joyce, and Marcel Proust; the exhibition also features several images of his wife, Juliet.

Man Ray NOIRE ET BLANCHE (BLACK AND WHITE)   1926

As a complement to this rich body of photographic work, the exhibition will include a continuous presentation of three of Man Ray's Surrealist films--Le retour à la raison (1923), Emak Bakia (1926), and L'étoile de mer (1928-1929). A selection of journals, artists' books, exhibition catalogues, and other photo-related materials will place his work in a broader cultural context, in particular his groundbreaking fashion photography. Finally, a grouping of works by his friends and contemporaries in the Dada and Surrealist movements--drawn from local collections--will situate Man Ray's work in the context of the avant-garde community in which he worked.

APRIL EVENTS

LIVE MUSIC/SILENT FILM
TOM VERLAINE
SATURDAY, APRIL 1, 8 PM
Tom Verlaine, guiding force behind the band Television, accompanies classic silent films by Man Ray and other avant-garde artists.

OPENING-DAY CURATOR'S TOUR
SUNDAY, APRIL 2, 2 PM
Exhibition curator Katherine Ware, Curator of Photo-graphs at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, leads an enlightening tour of Man Ray's work.

WALKER AFTER HOURS
IT'S DREAMY
FRIDAY, APRIL 14, 5:30-9 PM
"The streets are full of admirable craftsmen, but so few practical dreamers," said Surrealist Man Ray. As the tax man cometh, take a break and enjoy a non-taxing evening exploring the exhibition A Practical Dreamer: The Photographs of Man Ray.

IN THE WALKER ART CENTER SHOPS

A PRACTICAL DREAMER: THE PHOTOGRAPHS OF MAN RAY WAS ORGANIZED BY THE J. PAUL GETTY MUSEUM AND CURATED BY KATHERINE WARE, FORMERLY ASSISTANT CURATOR OF PHOTOGRAPHS AT THE GETTY AND CURRENTLY THE CURATOR OF PHOTOGRAPHS AT THE PHILADELPHIA MUSEUM OF ART. THE WALKER'S PRESENTATION OF

THIS EXHIBITION IS MADE POSSIBLE BY GENEROUS SUPPORT FROM DAYTON'S COMMUNITY-GIVING INITIATIVE, PROJECT IMAGINE; GOLDMAN, SACHS & CO.; ALLIANCE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT CORPORATION; INGRID AND ALFRED HARRISON; AND BEVERLY AND JOHN ROLLWAGEN.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY MAN RAY ARE GELATIN SILVER PRINTS, COLLECTION THE J. PAUL GETTY MUSEUM, LOS ANGELES; ©THE MAN RAY TRUST ARS-ADAGP.