Abelardo Morell
Cuban, b. 1948
39 Gold Bar: $15,372.742 (11 AM/GMT-3/13/08): $988.25/oz Zurich, Switzerland, 2008
Pigment Ink Print mounted to Dibond
Bonni Benrubi
© Abelardo Morell/Courtesy Bonni Benrubi Gallery, NYC

Embarrassment of Riches: Picturing Global Wealth

Friday, September 17, 2010—Sunday, January 2, 2011
Harrison Photography Gallery 365
Free Exhibition

The last two decades have witnessed historic flows and fluctuations of wealth on a global scale, and marked the development of a new interdependent world economy. Within these new conditions, money has flooded emerging markets (Russia, Saudi Arabia); economic powers have dramatically risen and fallen (Japan and recently the U.S.); and accelerated growth and once unimaginable political partnerships have emerged (China).

The question this exhibition seeks to explore is: How have photographers pictured and examined the new economy? This leads to other provocative questions for audiences to consider, such as, what does wealth look like in different cultural situations and, more generally, in our age?

Approximately 20 photographs will be on view in the exhibition. Some of the specific themes that will be addressed include:

Imagining the Social: Tina Barney (U.S.), Martin Parr (England), and Cindy Sherman (U.S.);

New/Old Cities: Andreas Gursky (Europe) and Sze Tsung Leong (Asia);

Objects to Consume: Gursky, Abelardo Morell (Cuba), and Jacqueline Hassink (The Netherlands);

Currencies: Morell and Luc Delahaye (France);

Spaces: Eve Sussman (U.S.) and Hassink;

Ritual, Style and Fashion: Barney, Parr, and Sherman.

Exhibition opening: Thursday, September 16, 6 to 9 p.m., in Harrison Photography Gallery (365); free.

Gallery Talk with David E. Little, curator and head of the MIA's Department of Photography and New Media.