{"id":22462,"date":"2020-09-24T13:10:22","date_gmt":"2020-09-24T13:10:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/?p=22462"},"modified":"2020-09-24T13:42:19","modified_gmt":"2020-09-24T13:42:19","slug":"martha-cooper-taking-pictures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/en\/2020\/09\/martha-cooper-taking-pictures\/","title":{"rendered":"Martha Cooper: TAKING PICTURES"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The URBAN NATION MUSEUM FOR URBAN CONTEMPORARY ART presents a six-decade retrospective of Martha Cooper\u2019s photographs.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-default\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Combining photographs and personal artifacts, MARTHA COOPER: TAKING PICTURES traces her life from her first camera in nursery school in 1946 to her reputation today as a world-renowned photographer. This retrospective is the first documentary exhibition to be presented at the URBAN NATION Museum and it ushers in a new era for the museum under its new director Mr. Jan Sauerwald.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-default\"\/>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-1 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><ul class=\"blocks-gallery-grid\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><a href=\"https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/180th-Street-platform-Bronx-NYC-1980-photo-cMartha-Cooper.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/180th-Street-platform-Bronx-NYC-1980-photo-cMartha-Cooper-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"22439\" data-full-url=\"https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/180th-Street-platform-Bronx-NYC-1980-photo-cMartha-Cooper.jpg\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/?attachment_id=22439\" class=\"wp-image-22439\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/180th-Street-platform-Bronx-NYC-1980-photo-cMartha-Cooper-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/180th-Street-platform-Bronx-NYC-1980-photo-cMartha-Cooper-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/180th-Street-platform-Bronx-NYC-1980-photo-cMartha-Cooper-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/180th-Street-platform-Bronx-NYC-1980-photo-cMartha-Cooper-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/180th-Street-platform-Bronx-NYC-1980-photo-cMartha-Cooper-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/180th-Street-platform-Bronx-NYC-1980-photo-cMartha-Cooper-1600x1067.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/180th-Street-platform-Bronx-NYC-1980-photo-cMartha-Cooper-905x603.jpg 905w, https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/180th-Street-platform-Bronx-NYC-1980-photo-cMartha-Cooper-1320x880.jpg 1320w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"blocks-gallery-item__caption\">180th Street platform, Bronx, NYC 1980 photo \u00a9Martha Cooper<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><figcaption class=\"blocks-gallery-caption\">180th Street platform, Bronx, NYC 1980 photo \u00a9Martha Cooper<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-default\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">MARTHA COOPER: TAKING PICTURES presents the photographer\u2019s versatile vision of the world, with creativity found on every corner. The exhibition opens with the images from&nbsp;<em>Subway Art,<\/em>&nbsp;her landmark 1984 book with Henry Chalfant, now credited with jump-starting the worldwide urban art movement. Martha\u2019s photographs documented the secret subculture of writers and the coded artworks they created illegally on thousands of New York City trains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martha\u2019s photographs are distinguished by their frank human vitality, with an eye to preserving details and traditions of cultural significance. Many of her photographs have become iconic representations of a time, place or culture. The exhibition will offer a rare insight into Martha\u2019s archives through previously unpublished photographs, drawings, journals, articles, letters, and artifacts. As a lifelong and avid collector, her private trove of black books, stickers, Kodak film wallets and child-made toys will also be on display. Emphasis is placed on Martha\u2019s extensive travels and the artistic friendships that she has fostered internationally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-default\"\/>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-1 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-2 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><ul class=\"blocks-gallery-grid\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><a href=\"https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Skeme-Bronx-NYC-1982-photo-cMartha-Cooper.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Skeme-Bronx-NYC-1982-photo-cMartha-Cooper-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"22438\" data-full-url=\"https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Skeme-Bronx-NYC-1982-photo-cMartha-Cooper.jpg\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/?attachment_id=22438\" class=\"wp-image-22438\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Skeme-Bronx-NYC-1982-photo-cMartha-Cooper-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Skeme-Bronx-NYC-1982-photo-cMartha-Cooper-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Skeme-Bronx-NYC-1982-photo-cMartha-Cooper-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Skeme-Bronx-NYC-1982-photo-cMartha-Cooper-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Skeme-Bronx-NYC-1982-photo-cMartha-Cooper-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Skeme-Bronx-NYC-1982-photo-cMartha-Cooper-1600x1067.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Skeme-Bronx-NYC-1982-photo-cMartha-Cooper-905x603.jpg 905w, https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Skeme-Bronx-NYC-1982-photo-cMartha-Cooper-1320x880.jpg 1320w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"blocks-gallery-item__caption\">Skeme, Bronx, NYC, 1982 photo \u00a9Martha  Cooper<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><figcaption class=\"blocks-gallery-caption\">Skeme, Bronx, NYC, 1982 photo \u00a9Martha Cooper<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-default\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fans will recognize images from her books&nbsp;<em>Hip Hop Files&nbsp;<\/em>(with Akim Walta, 2004),&nbsp;<em>Street Play&nbsp;<\/em>(2005),&nbsp;<em>We B*Girlz<\/em>&nbsp;(with Nika Kramer, 2005),&nbsp;<em>New York State of Mind<\/em>&nbsp;(2007),&nbsp;<em>Name Tagging<\/em>&nbsp;(2010), and&nbsp;<em>Tokyo Tattoo 1970&nbsp;<\/em>(2011). As an exhibition highlight, the original mock-up of her legendary book&nbsp;<em>Subway Art<\/em> (with Henry Chalfant, 1984) will be on display, as well as artworks from her personal collection including a pair of original paintings by graffiti king, Dondi. A multi-channel video installation called \u201cThe Rushes\u201d will debut in the exhibition by filmmaker Selina Miles, who directed the documentary&nbsp;<em>Martha: A Picture Story&nbsp;<\/em>and premiered at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival in NYC. An extensive section called \u201cMartha Remixed\u201d showcases the work of over 35 artists who have reinterpreted Cooper\u2019s photographs or paid personal tribute with portraits in an array of styles and mediums and locations. Unique to the exhibition, visitors will see the new collaboration between Martha and multidisciplinary Lithuanian artist Ernest Zacharevic who will create a two-story mural onsite inside the museum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>\u201cWe were immediately excited to be given the opportunity to present the world\u2019s first major retrospective of photographer Martha Cooper and to introduce her body of work to URBAN NATION Museum visitors. We are interested in focusing on Cooper\u2019s photographic work and expounding on her working methods. In addition, we will present her worldwide collaborations with artists and protagonists of the street art and graffiti movement and provide audiences the opportunity to delve deeply into the cosmos of Martha Cooper\u2019s work. We are delighted to be able to present and convey a unique compilation of photographs and artifacts from her personal collections.\u201d \u2013<\/em>&nbsp;Jan Sauerwald, Director of the URBAN NATION Museum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-default\"\/>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-1 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-3 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><ul class=\"blocks-gallery-grid\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><a href=\"https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Martha-Cooper-photographed-by-Nika-Kramer.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Martha-Cooper-photographed-by-Nika-Kramer-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"22437\" data-full-url=\"https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Martha-Cooper-photographed-by-Nika-Kramer.jpg\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/?attachment_id=22437\" class=\"wp-image-22437\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Martha-Cooper-photographed-by-Nika-Kramer-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Martha-Cooper-photographed-by-Nika-Kramer-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Martha-Cooper-photographed-by-Nika-Kramer-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Martha-Cooper-photographed-by-Nika-Kramer-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Martha-Cooper-photographed-by-Nika-Kramer-2048x1367.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Martha-Cooper-photographed-by-Nika-Kramer-1600x1068.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Martha-Cooper-photographed-by-Nika-Kramer-905x604.jpg 905w, https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Martha-Cooper-photographed-by-Nika-Kramer-1320x881.jpg 1320w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"blocks-gallery-item__caption\">Martha Cooper photographed by Nika Kramer<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><figcaption class=\"blocks-gallery-caption\">Martha Cooper photographed by Nika Kramer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-default\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martha\u2019s specialty is documenting artistic process in public space. Her formal training in art and ethnology set a unique template to better understand cultural practices and techniques and her friendships with artists gave her close and personal access to show materials, tools and techniques in detail as they evolve over several generations. As part of this larger practice, Cooper\u2019s iconic photos of clandestine graffiti activities have proven to be a valuable record and an important key to understanding the story of the movement\u2019s proliferation around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Martha\u2019s curiosity has always driven her documentation. Her black and white photographs from her book&nbsp;<em>Tokyo Tattoo 1970&nbsp;<\/em>(2011), represent her first foray into an underground art world and hidden practices. In&nbsp;<em>Street Play<\/em>&nbsp;she concentrated on the invincible spirit of city kids who are creatively rising above their bleak environment. Her photographs of 1980s breakers are the earliest published images of an unknown dance form at the time that became known as central to the definition of Hip Hop culture. As the first female staff photographer on the&nbsp;<em>New York Post,<\/em>&nbsp;Cooper sought out subjects to pursue independently. Her intrepid and sometimes risky pursuit of taking pictures has inspired many young people to pursue their own artwork and career paths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-default\"\/>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-1 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-4 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><ul class=\"blocks-gallery-grid\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><a href=\"https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Lower-East-Side-Manhattan-NYC-1978-photo-cMartha-Cooper.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"683\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Lower-East-Side-Manhattan-NYC-1978-photo-cMartha-Cooper-683x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"22436\" data-full-url=\"https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Lower-East-Side-Manhattan-NYC-1978-photo-cMartha-Cooper.jpg\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/?attachment_id=22436\" class=\"wp-image-22436\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Lower-East-Side-Manhattan-NYC-1978-photo-cMartha-Cooper-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Lower-East-Side-Manhattan-NYC-1978-photo-cMartha-Cooper-200x300.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Lower-East-Side-Manhattan-NYC-1978-photo-cMartha-Cooper-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Lower-East-Side-Manhattan-NYC-1978-photo-cMartha-Cooper-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Lower-East-Side-Manhattan-NYC-1978-photo-cMartha-Cooper-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Lower-East-Side-Manhattan-NYC-1978-photo-cMartha-Cooper-1600x2400.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Lower-East-Side-Manhattan-NYC-1978-photo-cMartha-Cooper-905x1358.jpg 905w, https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Lower-East-Side-Manhattan-NYC-1978-photo-cMartha-Cooper-1320x1980.jpg 1320w, https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/Lower-East-Side-Manhattan-NYC-1978-photo-cMartha-Cooper.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"blocks-gallery-item__caption\">Lower East Side, Manhattan, NYC, 1978 photo \u00a9Martha Cooper<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><figcaption class=\"blocks-gallery-caption\">Lower East Side, Manhattan, NYC, 1978 photo \u00a9Martha Cooper<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-default\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Exhibition curators Steven P. Harrington and Jaime Rojo (New York) have been curators and co-curators for the URBAN NATION Museum since 2015 (Project M\/7&nbsp;<em>Persons of Interest<\/em>, 2015, URBAN NATION opening exhibition&nbsp;<em>UNique. UNited. UNstoppable<\/em>., 2017). They are also founders and editors of the influential art site Brooklyn Street Art (BSA) since 2008, a respected daily clearinghouse of the global street art scene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-default\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201c<em>Martha\u2019s style is to dive in and be fearless, immersing herself in the moment \u2013 and she\u2019s been documenting what she finds around the world for six decades. That\u2019s the attitude we took curating this exhibition, knowing that each element captured in her work is genuine and transient. It is our goal for visitors to be transformed by her unique eye for a historic preservation of the ordinary that is often exceptional \u2013 whether it is documenting the verboten process of making 1970s graffiti, capturing youths performing moves that were later called \u201cbreaking\u201d, the inking processes of Japanese tattoo culture, or the ingenious games kids devised for play in New York\u2019s abandoned neighborhoods,\u201d<\/em>&nbsp;say Harrington and Rojo about MARTHA COOPER: TAKING PICTURES.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-default\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>MARTHA COOPER: TAKING PICTURES<br><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/urban-nation.com\/event\/livestream-opening-martha-cooper-takting-pictures\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/urban-nation.com\/event\/livestream-opening-martha-cooper-takting-pictures\/\">Livestream &#8211; Opening<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><br>Friday, October 2nd 2020, 8pm &#8211; 9pm<br><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The URBAN NATION MUSEUM FOR URBAN CONTEMPORARY ART presents a six-decade retrospective of Martha Cooper\u2019s photographs. Combining photographs and personal artifacts, MARTHA COOPER: TAKING PICTURES traces her life from her first camera in nursery school in 1946 to her reputation today as a world-renowned photographer. This retrospective is the first documentary exhibition to be presented [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22437,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[730,35,1260],"tags":[733,3470,1139,3021,2567],"class_list":["post-22462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-berlin-en","category-exhibitions","category-highlights-en","tag-berlin","tag-fotoausstellung","tag-deutschland","tag-martha-cooper-2","tag-urban-nation-museum"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22462","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22462"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22462\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.urbanpresents.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}