Signs
Subtitle: photographs by Jim Dow
By: with essays by Jim Dow and April M. Watson
Contributors: Watson, April M., writer of added text; Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Publisher: Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
Published: 2022
Place of publication: Kansas City, Missouri
Language: eng
Number of pages: 119
ISBN-13: 9780300264012
Copyright date: 2022
Subjects: Exhibitions; Artistic Photography; Signs and signboards; Pictorial works; Symbolism in art; PHOTOGRAPHY / General
Description: The American photographer Jim Dow (b. 1942) is renowned for photographs that depict the built environment-he first gained attention for his panoramic triptychs of baseball stadiums-and for his skill at conveying the "human ingenuity and spirit" that suffuse the spaces. This book is the first to focus on Dow's early black-and-white pictures, featuring more than 60 photographs made between 1967 and 1977, a majority of which have never before been published. Indebted to the work of Walker Evans, a key mentor of Dow's, these photographs depict time-worn signage taken from billboards, diners, gas stations, drive-ins, and other small businesses. While still recognizable as icons of commercial Americana, without their context Dow's signs impart ambiguous messages, often situated between documentation and abstraction. Including a new essay by Dow that reveals his own perspective on the development of the work, Signs suggests how these formative years honed the artist's sensibility and conceptual approach.
Notes: Catalog of an exhibition held at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, May 7-October 9, 2022.

Includes bibliographical references.