Mixed Exposures - Brief Article

Say cheese" is not, one suspects, a phrase overused by flaneur photographer Beat Streull in his covert quest for fleeting facial expressions that reveal an urban state of mind. This summer Streuli targeted the inhabitants of Turin; the resulting color studies will be on view at the Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea between September 9 and November 5. In direct contrast, Hannah Wilke's "performalist" works are willed and strategic self-exposures. Extended across two Berlin venues, a major retrospective, "Interrupted Careers: Hannah Wilke," will examine the artist's sculptural, video, and photographic output, including documentation of her 1970s nude performances and her moving record of her own death from cancer (Neue Gesellschaft fur Bildende Kunst and Haus am Kleistpark, Sept. 2-Oct. 8). Former General Idea member AA Bronson's images are no less affecting. Large-scale photoportraits celebrating the lives of Bronson's collaborators Jorge Zontal (1944-94) and Felix Partz (1945-94) will feature in his Wiener Secession exhibition (Oct. 5-Nov. 26). The term "performalist" might also be used to describe the photographic activity of Ulay. Best known as Marina Abramovic's collaborator, Ulay has amassed a diverse archive of notes, documents, and photographs over the past thirty years. His exhibition at De Appel Amsterdam will probe photography's ontological status: Courtesy of a photolab temporarily set up in the gallery, the artist and invited curators can expand or modify displays as they wish (Sept. 8-Oct. 22).

The sometimes-disappearing subjects of Miguel Rio Branco go on view this October at the Centro de Arte Helio Oiticica, Rio de Janeiro. In the past decade, the documentary photographer focused on Rio's Afro-Brazilian culture, its brothels, abattoirs, and boxing academies; long exposures (Rio Branco's signature technique) result in vibrantly saturated colors and sometimes turn the human figures into wisps of smoke. The show will also include a large installation and several paintings from the mid-'70s to the present. Mexican--Los Angelean joint-resident Ruben Ortiz Torres likewise has an eye for hybrid phenomena. His surreal photos feature US-Latino cultural collisions: Mexican Beatles impersonators, Guatemalan Indians using Pepsi and Coke as holy water, and other unexpected admixtures (Grazer Kunstverein, Oct. 7-Nov. 5).

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