PETER HUJAR

19 Jul-24 Aug 2014

Overview

Maureen Paley is pleased to present the third solo exhibition by Peter Hujar at the gallery. Working in black and white, Hujar vividly documented a New York that has been all but lost to us today. Hujar was a contemporary and friend of Diane Arbus, and both were admirers of Weegee and shared his dark vision. Regardless of subject matter - from the catacombs in Palermo to abandoned, wrecked cars; Hujar is a classicist whose distinctive style echoes further back to historical figures such as Atget and Brassaï. Hujar was a mentor and friend to the artists David Wojnarowicz and Paul Thek and his work would go on to influence photographers like Nan Goldin and Robert Mapplethorpe. His sensibility, concentration, eye for detail, and feel for light and texture enabled him to find mystery where none is apparent, beauty in the mundane, and grace in disintegration. All of Hujar's work is imbued with a deep sense of mortality and he makes visible an awareness of life and death as forever enmeshed... a depth of soul.