There ain’t no party like an Inge Morath party! The late photographer (and wife of playwright Arthur Miller) had an unusual request to make of guests to her soirées in the period from 1959 to 1963. During this time she collaborated on a project with artist Saul Steinberg; friends and acquaintances of the pair were asked to don the paper bag masks created by Steinberg — decorated with outlandishly expressive faces — to be photographed in a deadpan style by Morath. The resulting series goes by the name Masquerades, and while we don’t know whose faces are hiding beneath the bags, we can be fairly sure they were wearing grins as wide as those Steinberg drew on his disguises.
Images from the Masquerades series make up half of a joint exhibition at Danziger Gallery, New York. The second artist to contribute is Puerto Rican Enoc Perez, whose Cut Shapes works were created half a century after Morath’s but share an air of mystery and hidden identity through their use of interloping collage. Seemingly acting as a kind of censor against the nudes’ original form, Perez introduces coloured cut-outs that instead serve to increase the sense of voyeurism, focusing greater attention on the unsuspecting subjects. The show runs until 13 June.
Enoc Perez
Untitled, 2014
25.75 x 19.5 inches
unique hand cut & painted collage over pigment print
Inge Morath
Untitled from the Mask Series with Saul Steinberg, 1961-1962
14 x 11 inches
gelatin silver print
Inge Morath
Untitled from the Mask Series with Saul Steinberg, 1961-1962
14 x 11 inches
gelatin silver print
Enoc Perez
Untitled, 2014
25.75 x 19.5 inches
unique hand cut & painted collage over pigment print
Inge Morath
Untitled from the Mask Series with Saul Steinberg, 1961-1962
14 x 11 inches
gelatin silver print
