Howard Greenberg Gallery Representing The Work of South African Photographer David Goldblatt
Howard Greenberg Gallery is proud to announce its exclusive U.S. representation of the work of David Goldblatt, South Africas’s preeminent photographer of the last 50 years. The New Museum recently opened Goldblatt’s first New York exhibition in 10 years—Intersections Intersected—which has received critical acclaim. Howard Greenberg Gallery will exhibit Goldblatt’s project, Particulars, in April 2010 which will be followed by The Jewish Museum’s major retrospective, South Africa Witnessedin May 2010.
For more than five decades, Goldbatt has documented the changing political landscape of South Africa. His photographs reflect the complexities of black and white society during Apartheid and post-Apartheid years, while deftly examining the social, cultural and economic divides that characterize the country. Goldblatt has traced the impact of Apartheid on the faces of South Africans and on the natural and architectural landscape of the country and reveals that bigotry continues to infiltrate the culture. Goldblatt is not interested in the initial shock and violence associated with traditional documentary and news photography but rather a critical exploration of society. He produces photographs that explore the depth of injustice throughout South African history and that permeate deeply in the mind of the viewer.
“I first met David Goldblatt 10 years ago and seriously considered representing his work. But having been immersed in American and European photography, I didn’t feel that I could successfully promote his work at that time. However, I had never forgotten my encounter with David and the impact his work has had on me. When the opportunity to work with David recently presented itself again, I did not hesitate a second time,” commented Howard Greenberg.
David Goldblatt was born in Randfonetin, South Africa in 1930. He became interested in photography in high school, but found little opportunity in his chosen field of magazine photography. Discouraged, he joined the family's menswear business and began work part-time on a university degree. Following his father's death in 1962, he sold the clothing concern and began working full-time as a photographer. Goldbaltt has published 10 books of his work and has had more than 20 gallery and museum exhibitions. His photographic essay South Africa: The Structure of Things Then was published and exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, in 1998. Goldblatt’s work was included in Documenta 11 in 2002, Documenta 12 in 2007, and the travelling exhibition “Africa Remix”(2004-07). His limited edition book, Particulars, won the award for the best photography book at the Rencontres d’Arles festival in 2004. Goldblatt won the 2006 Hasselblad Foundation International Award in Photography. He received an Honorary Doctorate in Literature from the University of the Witwatersrand in April 2008. In June 2009, the Henri Cartier-Bresson Founrdation announced that Goldblatt would be the recipient of of HCB Award 2009 for his project “TJ”, about the city of Johannesburg. The exhibition will be shown at the Foundation in spring 2011. His work is included in many significant museum collections including the Biblitheque Nationale, Paris; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Victoria and Albert Museum, London; and The National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, among others.
