"Alvarez Bravo Photography: Mexico, Quiet Light and Time" will be held at the Setagaya Art Museum in Kinuta Park, Tokyo, from July 2 to August 28. Manuel Alvarez Bravo is a Mexican photographer who left a profound mark on the history of 20th-century photography. After the turbulent decade of the Mexican Revolution, he rose to prominence in the late 1920s, a time when the mural movement and avant-garde art were on the rise. He continued to produce photographs that consistently celebrated his unique sense of serenity and poetry until his final years in the 1990s. In 1997, at the age of 95, a retrospective of his work was held at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. With the full cooperation of the archives run by the artist's family, this exhibition will display 192 black-and-white prints and numerous documents in chronological order, organized into four parts and nine chapters. This will be the largest full-scale retrospective in Japan, showcasing the fascinating work of Alvarez Bravo spanning approximately 70 years. Part 1 will feature his fresh early works from the 1920s, which emphasize the forms of familiar objects and capture them as imposing monuments, in an attempt to embody modernist photographic expression; and his works from the 1930s, when Mexico City was transforming into a modern city, capturing scenes he encountered in the streets, inspired by the work of French photographer Eugène Atget, who photographed Paris. These works, which are at once warm and slightly unsettling, are a testament to his work. Part 2 will feature works that evoke the feeling that people are gazing at a world invisible to the photographer, as well as poetic works by Álvarez Bravo, who often gives works with titles that stimulate the viewer's imagination, questioning the relationship between vision and imagination. Works also will be on display that exude the Mexican view of life and death, which holds that life and death are not in opposition to each other but form a cycle. The exhibition also features portraits of Álvarez Bravo's famous figures, including Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, André Breton, and Leon Trotsky, from the 1930s to the 1940s, a time when Mexico welcomed many exiled artists and intellectuals fleeing fascism and became a hub of international cultural exchange. Additionally, reproductions of letters from other artists, such as Henri Cartier-Bresson, and magazines featuring Álvarez Bravo's work will also be on display. The third section of the exhibition showcases Álvarez Bravo's work from the 1940s, when he worked in the film industry, taking still photographs, while also accompanying and documenting expeditions to archaeological sites and indigenous settlements across the country. His photographs, capturing the dignified indigenous people and the powerful yet delicate beauty of the Mexican wilderness, will also be featured in a slideshow. Photographs from his archaeological expeditions, including those from Tulum and Bonampak, will also be on display. Also on display will be Álvarez Bravo's new work, which resembles a scene from a film, as he began to capture street scenes with a light-hearted sense of humor.

The fourth section will feature new works from the 1970s and beyond, as his international acclaim grew. He continued to shoot new works, focusing on the various qualities of light and the fascinating shapes that result from its transitions. He also discovered the power of life that continues to circulate in the rugged yet rich natural world and in the female body. These works, which have become increasingly refined and sometimes connect to a mythical realm, are presented. The second half will feature works from his final years, shot with utter joy and freshness in the airy garden of Álvarez Bravo's home in a quiet neighborhood in southern Mexico City, capturing the daily laundry hanging out in the tiny space and the shadows of trees playing with the walls and glass windows. During the exhibition, there will be a talk entitled "Alvarez Bravo and the Progress of 20th Century Mexican Photography," featuring guests including a local researcher and a family member who runs the artist's archive, as well as a literary event called "Reading Mexican Poetry and Short Stories," which will convey the diverse appeal of Mexican literature through readings and commentary of poems by Octavio Paz and short stories by Juan Rulfo that were born from Alvarez Bravo's photographs. Details and schedules of the events can be found on the Setagaya Art Museum's official website.
【Event Information】
"Alvarez Bravo Photo Exhibition - Mexico, Quiet Light and Time"
Venue: Setagaya Art Museum
Address: 1-2 Kinuta Park, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo
Dates: July 2nd - August 28th
Time: 10:00-18:00 (last admission at 17:30)
Admission: 1,000 yen for adults, 800 yen for those 65 and over, 800 yen for university and high school students, 500 yen for elementary and junior high school students
Closed: Mondays (except July 18th), July 19th