Fraenkel Gallery is pleased to present Lee Friedlander: SIGNS, an exhibition examining the five-decade long obsession of this highly influential photographer. Since the early 1960s, Friedlander has focused on the signs that inscribe the American landscape, from hand-lettered ads to storefront windows to massive billboards.
Made in New York, San Francisco, and dozens of cities and small towns in between, Friedlander’s photographs record milk prices, cola ads, neon lights, road signs, graffiti, and movie marquees. Depicting these texts with precision and sly humor, Friedlander’s approach to America transcribes a sort of found poetry of commerce and desire. A large majority of works in the exhibition will be shown for the first time.
Also on view will be a group of 16 early Friedlander prints, made on the road in the 1970s, on travels across the United States.
Lee Friedlander (born 1934) began photographing in 1948. His work was included in the influential 1967 exhibition New Documents at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, curated by John Szarkowski. His many monographs include Self-Portrait; Cherry Blossom Time in Japan; Letters from the People; At Work; and Sticks and Stones, among others. One of the most important living photographers, Friedlander’s prints are held by major collections including the Art Institute of Chicago; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museum of Modern Art, New York; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; and Whitney Museum of American Art, among many others.
Lee Friedlander
Signs
July 11 – August 17, 2019
Fraenkel Gallery
49 Geary St, 4th floor, San Francisco, CA 94108
fraenkelgallery.com
Lee Friedlander, New Haven, Connecticut, 1980
Lee Friedlander, New York City, 1974
Lee Friedlander, Kentucky, 1965
Lee Friedlander, Nashville, Tennessee, 1968
Lee Friedlander, Arkansas, 1961
Lee Friedlander, Florida, 1963
Lee Friedlander, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1963
Lee Friedlander, Chicago, 1968
Lee Friedlander, New York City, 1986
