Marlborough Gallery is pleased to announce Pentimento Series, a solo exhibition of seventeen pigment prints by Robert Weingarten. The exhibition will open at Marlborough Gallery on January 6 and will continue through January 31, 2014. This is the artist’s fourth exhibition with Marlborough Gallery, and the first exhibition at the gallery’s main 57th Street space. A pentimento describes changes and alterations in an artwork, marked by traces of previous work made by the artist that are often only visible using advanced imaging technologies. In Pentimento Series, Weingarten layers historic imagery of iconic sites alongside contemporary images. Through the appropriation of archival images, Weingarten shines light on the historical events that once took place in these recognizable locations that are now often dramatically altered, or on occasion, amazingly similar. Continuing with the technique of digital composite images first developed in his 2011 series Portraits Without People, Robert Weingarten’s Pentimento Series explores the ever-changing meaning of place, as latent images of the past subtly emerge in the present.

In Paris (1940), rows of cars are seen driving toward l’Arc de Triomphe in the present day, as German troops simultaneously march along the Champs Élysées to seize control of Paris. Weingarten layers the iconic wartime photograph with a Disneyland advertisement featuring a gleeful child. From the boy’s vantage point, it appears he is watching the troops descend down the streets. With sharp juxtapositions, Weingarten creates a portrait of a place, showing not just its current state but its growth and history. The noted scholar and curator, Colin Westerbeck, explains the effect as Weingarten working “his way through the history of photography in order to arrive at his unique vision of photography as history.”
In Guernica (1937), the modern day city is framed within a sepia vignette of post-war ruins. Through the use of translucent layers, the past looms, monochromatic and ghostly, directing the eye towards a vision of the present moment.

Another depiction of a seemingly familiar and idyllic spot is Hooverville (Central Park, NY 1931). Taken at the Great Meadow in Central Park, the site’s former life as a Hooverville reveals a harsher aspect that in the wake of Occupy Wall Street reverberates today more than ever. Historic photographs of shanty town residents create an uneasy tension with leisurely sunbathers enjoying the park.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Weingarten’s work is the result of his abilities as an autodidact combined with an intense passion for photography. Weingarten’s first exhibition with Marlborough was the 6:30 A.M. series, begun in 2003, in which Weingarten captured an identical ocean view from his home in California at the same time each day for one year. The series chronicles the changing colors of the sky, water and land to create, as publisher Hatje Cantz described, “magnificent, vividly colored images reminiscent of abstract realism paintings.” This interest in photographic abstraction became more pronounced in the Palette Series (2004-2007) and later, Portraits Without People (2011), in which Weingarten produced photocompositions of images representing the subject’s biographical detail, akin to Andy Warhol, or Arman’s Portrait Robot series, in which he created portraits by selecting the items that best express the individual.

Since the 1990s, Robert Weingarten’s work has been shown in over eighty exhibitions in the United States and abroad. The artist’s work is included in a number of permanent collections including the George Eastman House, the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Museum of Fine Art, the Los Angeles Country Museum of Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art. He holds the distinction, Fellow of the Royal Photographic Society, and has been the recipient of several awards in photography. Robert Weingarten’s work is the subject of numerous monographs and publications.

An illustrated catalogue will be available at the time of the exhibition.

Exhibition, “Western American Art South of the Sweet Tea Line IV Exhibit”

Booth Western Art Museum, Cartersville, GA.

September 27, 2014 through January 25, 2015

Featuring over 90 rarely seen works of Western art from more than 50 public and private collections throughout the Southeast, Western American Art South of the Sweet Tea Line IV offers a visual feast. Opening Saturday, September 27th this outstanding exhibition will remain on view at Booth Western Art Museum through January 25, 2015. Presenting a broad spectrum of media, a surprisingly diverse range of artists and covering nearly 150 years of art history, Sweet Tea IV is a must see exhibit. Visitors will encounter great works by early masters such as Alfred Jacob Miller, Joseph Sharp, Edgar Payne and Albert Bierstadt along with contemporary standouts Ansel Adams, Curt Walters, Krystii Melaine, Richard Schmidt, Tom Browning and many more.

The upcoming exhibition is co-curated by Booth Executive Director Seth Hopkins and Director of Curatorial Services Jeff Donaldson, working with a wide range of private collectors and museums around the Southeast. The Sweet Tea series began in 2005 and has become the Booth Museum’s signature exhibition, occurring every three years. The title, developed by the museum’s founding curator, Dr. W. James Burns, whimsically and loosely defines the geographic area which is home to these amazing works of art. The Sweet Tea series truly compliments the Booth Museum main galleries which house the largest permanent exhibit space for Western art in the country.

Western American Art South of the Sweet Tea Line IV, or Sweet Tea IV as it is known among Booth Museum insiders, allows visitors to experience art that will transport them to the most beautiful locations in the west and witness both the joys and hardships of life in the West. Works included in the exhibition span a 150 year period and present a full cross-section of Western art, both historical and contemporary, and the full range of potential Western subjects. “For Sweet Tea IV, I am excited by the range of media we will be presenting,” said Booth Museum Executive Director Seth Hopkins. “We are installing the first video installation piece to be shown at the Booth. Also new to the series this year will be digital art, reductive woodblock printing and a unique mixed media collage.” Among the prestigious institutions loaning to the exhibition this year are the Hunter Museum of American Art, Chattanooga; Georgia Museum of Art, Athens; Huntsville Museum of Art; Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art, Nashville; and Lamar Dodd Art Center, Lagrange, Georgia.

One positive outcome from the series has been the camaraderie developed among Southern collectors who met through programming related to the series. “In many cases Southerners who collect Western art feel alone or isolated, with no one in their peer group with whom to share their passion. During the Sweet Tea exhibition we regularly bring in artists in the exhibit for lectures and workshops,” said Hopkins. “At these events collectors meet other like-minded people and in many cases have formed deep friendships.”

The logistics of pulling together an exhibition of this scale from 50 or more lenders is time consuming and requires resources. “Throughout the three years between Sweet Tea exhibits we are networking with other museums and private collectors to learn more about their Western art holdings and discussing borrowing their prized possessions,” said Hopkins. “Some works may be reminiscent of our permanent collection, but the emphasis is on exposing our audience to artists not represented in our collection, at least not yet anyway. It is a lot of work, but I think our members really look forward to our Sweet Teaexhibitions.”

On Saturday, September 27 from 5:30 pm – 9:00 pm, members are invited to be among the first to view Western American Art South of the Sweet Tea Line IV. Refreshments will be served in the Atrium from 5:30 pm to 7:00 pm. At 7:00 pm in Bergman Theatre, Suzanne Baker, Jim Carson, Russell Case, and Najee Dorsey, four artists represented in the exhibition will discuss their approach to art.

For more images from Western American Art South of the Sweet Tea Line IV, click here.

Solo Exhibition, “Living Legends”

The Montage Portraits of Robert Weingarten. Norton Museum of Art, Palm Beach, Florida.

July 17, 2014 - September 7, 2014

Beginning in 2007, California-based photographer Robert Weingarten reached out to “living legends” with a request to create a portrait of each — without including their faces! Originally titled Portraits Without People, Weingarten asked them to send him a list of places, objects, events, and ideas to be included in a montage portrait that would capture their spiritualessence rather than their physical image.

More than two dozen legendary artists, sports figures, authors, politicians, scientists, musicians, composers, religious leaders, and others replied, including Don Shula, Buzz Aldrin, Colin Powell, Quincy Jones, Itzhak Perlman, Sonia Sotomayor, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Joyce Carol Oates, and Stephen Sondheim.

Only two complete sets of this series of 26 “portraits” are currently held by museums. This set has been donated to the Norton by California collectors Steven and Catherine Fink, and is now part of the Museum Collection.

Solo Exhibition "Pentimento Series"

Craig Krull Gallery, Santa Monica, CA.

May 24th to June 28th 2014

Solo Exhibition, “6:30A.M. Series”

Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA.

On view March 29, 2014 to February 25, 2016

In January 2003, at 6:30 am, Robert Weingarten launched his photographic odyssey. Over the course of the year, he made daily exposures at precisely 6:30 am, maintaining an identical combination of camera, 350-millimeter lens, slow-speed film and viewpoint overlooking Santa Monica Bay. Five of his large-scale, luminous photographs of Malibu capture what the artist calls "the fleeting nature of a particular confluence of light, and conditions that render a moment dramatic and singular."

Weingarten's photographs engage a long tradition of photographing in sequence, chronicling the way a scene changes from moment to moment, and day to day. The bold, immersive colors also call to mind works of American Expressionist artists, especially Mark Rothko, whose color field paintings have influenced generations of artists. Weingarten reminds us that it is not always necessary to travel to make great photographs, and that sometimes the best art is made close to home.

Solo Exhibition "Another America" a Testimonial to the Amish

George Eastman House, International Museum of Photography and Film
February to May, 2014

PUSHING BOUNDARIES: PORTRAITS BY ROBERT WEINGARTEN

July 2 to October 14, 2012

Smithsonian Institution,
International Gallery,
S. Dillon Ripley Center
Washington, D.C.

Press Release:

PUSHING BOUNDARIES:
PORTRAITS BY ROBERT WEINGARTEN

July 2 to October 14, 2012

"The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History will feature an
exhibition of sixteen large scale (60 X 90 inch) photographs from
Weingarten's series, Portraits Unbound at the International Gallery on the
National Mall. By offering a close examination of his photographs of
important cultural figures and a selection of historic portraits from the
Photographic History Collection, this exhibition explores questions prompted
by Weingarten¹s work, “What is a portrait?” and “What makes you who are?”.
This dynamic exhibition provides visitors with an opportunity to contemplate
the lives of his iconic sitters and Weingarten's rich visual legacy." - by Shannon T. Perich, Associate Curator, Photographic History Collection, Smithsonian Institution