OJOS PRIVADOS
Selections from the Personal Collection of Laurence Miller

Laurence Miller Gallery is proud to present OJOS PRIVADOS ~ A Selection of Photographs from the Personal Collection of Laurence Miller, from November 4 through December 24, 2010. The title Ojos Privados (Private Eyes) describes a characteristic that Miller, in his own words, loves about the types of photographers he has represented: "an artist in search of meaning and pleasure, working mostly in private without much care or need for fame, recognition, or financial reward." It began as an exhibition at Fundación Foto Colectania in Barcelona, and traveled in Spain for almost two years before returning to the United States this past summer. For the first time, these remarkable pieces will be made available for exhibition and sale to the public at large.

The exhibition will be comprised of approximately fifty pictures that represent the core of Laurence Miller's holdings, a collection of mostly modern photographs formed over thirty-five years through multiple and often conflicting motivations, with no clear agenda or focus, yet highly personal in nature. These include souvenirs of long-held friendships, opportunities that were too good to pass up, and conscious choices that fit into a design like pieces of a puzzle.  

The range of work in the collection is from classic (Muybridge, Fencers) to contemporary (David Levinthal, The Wild West); from powerful (Larry Burrows, Reaching Out) to the sexy (Brassai, Monastic Brothel); from jazzy (Ray Metzker, Nude Composite) to quiet (Aaron Siskind, Glove). Further highlights include Peter Keetman's multiple-exposed Status Munchen, Pseudo-Relief, 1953, which just about vibrates off the wall; several extraordinary portraits by Bruce Wrighton made in Binghamton, New York, shortly before his death in 1988;
an extraordinary vintage Helen Levitt, New York, c.1940 (boys with branches); and her classic Gypsy Boy and a rare vintage variant of that image, both made with Walker Evans' camera.

Ojos Privados represents Laurence Miller's passion for collecting over the course of thirty-five years. During that time, the gallery gave many artists their first shows in New York or first shows ever. Early on, Laurence Miller Gallery represented artists seemingly as diverse as Lee Friedlander, Helen Levitt, and Ray Metzker, and gave first exhibitions to Edward Burtynsky, Erwin Olaf, and Garry Fabian Miller. Some careers have faded, others have continued to rise, some artists have moved on or away and others have died. But all have played a part in making pictures that were chosen to become this extraordinary, and very personal, collection.