Life Dances On: Robert Frank in Dialogue

A whole series of exhibitions of Robert Frank’s work are currently on display, marking the 100 year anniversary of the artist’s birth in Zurich, on December 9, 1924. To this day, he is renown in particular for his legendary photo book The Americans. His life’s oeuvre, however, is considerably larger and encompasses many genres. The current exhibition, titled Life Dances On in reference to one of his films from 1980, offers insight into the interdisciplinary and lesser-known aspects of the long career of the photographer and film maker, who died in 2019. At the centre of the presentation are the creative and personal dialogues, which Frank undertook with other artists and media. Over 250 items are on display, including not just photographs and films, but also books and a diversity of archive material from the various museums’, as well as pieces on loan. The artist’s experimental approach is evident, and his very own words are also found throughout the presentation: he scribbled on his negatives and his voice can be heard in the spoken narrations that accompany his films. While Frank continued to take pictures his whole life, he became increasingly interested in enhanced visual effects, where he rearranged pictures, painted over them or added text. The exhibition documents Frank’s continuously-surprising, innovative power in various media – from his first forays into film alongside other artists of the Beat Generation, with films such as Pull My Daisy (1959), and his probably best-known scandalous, documentary film about the Rolling Stones, Cocksucker Blues (1972), to experimental short films and his artist books, which he described as visual diaries. His life experiences – from artistic inspiration and family partnerships, to loss and the processing of personal trauma – enhance the exhibition with rich illustrative material, made available by the June Leaf and Robert Frank Foundation. It is an impressive dance through the artist’s life and oeuvre.