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Suzanne Hellmuth and Jock Reynolds , (Hellmuth Apr. 26, 1947 New Haven, CT;–Reynolds May 11, 1947 New Brunswick, NJ)

Things are Seldom What They Seem ...

1980
20 in. x 24 in. (50.8 cm x 60.96 cm)

Medium and Support: gelatin silver print

Credit Line: gift of Jim and Sandy Fitzpatrick

Accession Number: 1990.66.1

Commentary

Gallery label from In Tandem: Inspirations and Collaborations

The collaborative artistic practice of husband-and-wife team Suzanne Hellmuth and Jock Reynolds oscillates between the realms of photography and theater. Hellmuth’s formal training in dance and Reynold’s training in sculpture inform their common practice in complementary ways, while they share a formalist sensibility in creating visual images or performative moments based on personal observations, experiences, and research that direct the “spectator’s focus on the surface [. . .], not on what may be implied or on an underlying psychology.” The non-narrative quality of their theatrical work also characterizes their photographic work; in their two-part piece Things are Seldom What They Seem, for example, they challenge the view to examine the role of visual context in the interpretation of an image, underscoring the subjectivity and open-endedness of their work.

Kelley Tialiou
Charles H. Sawyer Curatorial Assistant | Librarian | Archivist

Exhibition List

This object was included in the following exhibitions:

Boys and Girls, Men and Women Addison Gallery of American Art , 4/12/1990 - 6/10/1990
Object/Context Indiana University of Pennsylvania Museum , 4/23/1991 - 5/18/1991
Conundrums of Memory: Shards from A State of the Union, Speculation, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art , 10/17/1991 - 11/19/1991
In Tandem: Inspirations and Collaborations Addison Gallery of American Art , 9/12/2015 - 1/3/2016

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