Sign of the Times & Mark Cohen: Low Ideas
May 29 - August 1
What makes a photograph emblematic of its time? A new exhibition at Howard Greenberg Gallery, exploring photographs from 1932 to 2012 that are rooted in their particular eras, will be on view from May 28 through July 31, 2025. Sign of the Times will present more than 30 works from major photographers including Bob Adelman, Edward Burtynsky, William Gedney, Frank Gohlke, Henry Gruyaert, Danny Lyon, Nathan Lyons, Vivian Maier, Mary Ellen Mark, Steve Schapiro, Ed Van Der Elsken, and Weegee.
Sign of the Times serves as a poignant visual chronicle, freezing specific moments within the flow of history. Initially snapshots of their eras, these images have gradually accrued layers of significance, their meanings deepening and evolving with the passage of time. Collectively, the photographs on view coalesce into powerful and iconic reflections on the enduring struggles and triumphs of civil rights, the burgeoning waves of feminism, the stark realities of poverty, climate change, and other pivotal social and cultural forces that have shaped our world.
Some images whisper the story of their time through subtle yet telling details – the sleek lines of a particular automobile, the distinctive character of a typeface on a storefront, or the unmistakable silhouette of a hairstyle. These visual cues act as quiet markers, anchoring the photographs firmly within their historical context. Other images, however, deliver their messages with a far more direct and assertive voice. Consider, for instance, Vivian Maier’s 1971 photograph of a newsstand where an issue of LIFE boldly proclaims on its cover: “Saucy Feminist that Even Men Like” – a statement that encapsulates the shifting social dynamics and evolving perceptions of women during that era.
Intriguingly, many of the messages embedded within these historical frames continue to resonate with profound relevance in our present day. In a stark 1963 photograph by Bob Adelman, the word “Equality” is etched onto the frosted window of a Freedom Riders bus. Similarly, a 1966-67 shot by William Gedney captures a couple seated on the trunk of a car in a seemingly ordinary parking lot, yet their silent protest is amplified by a hand-held sign emblazoned with the stark truth: “Under Paid.” Anxieties and uncertainties echo in Steve Schapiro’s 1966 photograph, where a woman reclines, engrossed in a newspaper whose screaming headline declares with chilling foreboding, “The Worst is Yet to Come.”
As curator David Campany has written, “A photograph can be a document and an imagining, a record and a possibility, all at the same time.” Sign of the Times is curated by the gallery staff with each member making a specific selection of three works.