Bruce Silverstein Gallery is pleased to present In Sequence, a group exhibition that brings together the works of Adger Cowans, Barbara Morgan, Ed Ruscha, Keith A. Smith, Eve Sonneman, Francesca Woodman, and others to explore how sequencing engages rhythmic, spatial, and compositional strategies to shape narrative, guide perception, or elicit emotion. This exhibition considers how visual sequences structure time and transform the image from a static object into an active participant in a story, building tension, resonance, and pace as the viewer’s attention moves across and beyond the frame.
Since the early 20th century, photography has been associated with the decisive moment, defined by Henri Cartier-Bresson as the “simultaneous recognition, in a fraction of a second, of the significance of an event as well as of a precise organization of forms which give that event its proper expression”, or more simply, the singular instant arrested from the flow of time. In Sequence proposes an alternative framework, one that sees meaning in photography as unfolding through sequences. Extending beyond a simple linear progression of images, this approach suggests that sequencing functions as a deeper structural and conceptual mode akin to the temporal arts of music and poetry.
For Keith A. Smith, the sequence operates as a visual language. In his artist’s books, the act of flipping through pages becomes a performance—a rhythm of disjointed images coalescing into a unified whole, only to collapse again as the narrative unfolds. Like a poem or piece of music, meaning emerges through rhythm and repetition, inviting the viewer to inhabit the roles of reader, listener, and performer simultaneously. These formal strategies are also visible in Barbara Morgan’s iconic dance studies. The images do not merely document movement; they function like a dance performance, transforming still images into a kinetic experience.
Todd Hido and Ed Ruscha, both operating within the genre of roadside photography, utilize the sequence to take the viewer on a journey through the American landscape. They offer a mundane yet strangely evocative and minimalistic narrative of travel, the passage of time, and the human relationship to the changing American landscape. For Adger Cowans and Francesca Woodman, the sequence is a way to investigate the fragility and metamorphosis of identity. Adger Cowans’ Self Portrait (Shrouded, Masked, Free), 1973, a triptych of three images, unfolds a visual poem of concealment, transformation, and release, with each image deeply intertwined with the next.
By engaging with the conceptual possibilities of sequencing, the works in In Sequence challenge traditional conceptions of the image as a discrete moment. They reveal the sequence as a tool for constructing narratives, guiding experience, and framing perception, inviting viewers to read these images not as static artifacts, but as dynamic measures of time. In Sequence is open from June 19th through August 8th, 2025. For all press inquiries, please contact inquiries@brucesilverstein.com.
