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Bruce Silverstein Gallery is pleased to present In Sequence, a group exhibition that brings together the works of Adger Cowans, Elger Esser, Todd Hido, Dakota Mace, Barbara Morgan, Ed Ruscha, Keith A. Smith, Eve Sonneman, Ryan Weideman, 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.
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Henri Cartier-Bresson, Behind the Gare St. Lazare, 1932
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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.
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Aaron Siskind (1903-1991)
Left: Gloucester, 1944, Gelatin silver print mounted to board, printed c. 1944, 6 x 9 5/8 in (15.2 x 24.4 cm)
Right: Gloucester, 1944, Gelatin silver print mounted to board, printed c. 1944, Signed, titled, dated, and annotated on verso, 11 1/2 x 15 3/4 in (29.2 x 40 cm).
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Ed Ruscha (b. 1937)
Gasoline Stations Portfolio, 1962-1989
Ten gelatin silver prints, printed c. 1989
Edition 19/25
Each with title stamp on flush-mount verso
EACH: 19 1/2 x 23 in (49.5 x 58.4 cm)
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Todd Hido (b. 1968)
House Hunting, 1996-1999
Complete series of 26 chromogenic prints
Each signed and titled on verso
Each: 13 5/8 x 10 5/8 in
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Elger Esser (b. 1967)
Belle Ile sur le Risle I and II, 2019
Directprint on silver-coated copper plate
Signed on verso
Edition of 3 plus 1 Artist's proof (2/3)
Each: 13 x 16 7/8 in (33 x 42.9 cm)
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F. Holland Day (1864-1933)
Left: Kedan (Left Panel of Triptych Armageddon), 1897-1899, Platinum print mounted to grey board with secondary mount, printed c. 1897-1899, Photographer's initials stamped on recto, 4 3/4 x 6 1/2 in (12.1 x 16.5 cm)
Right: Untitled (Right Panel of Triptych Armageddon), 1897-1899, Platinum print mounted to grey board with secondary mount, printed c. 1897-1899, Photographer's initials stamped on recto, 4 7/8 x 6 1/2 in (12.4 x 16.5 cm)
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Constantin Brâncuși (1876-1957)
Micu Marcu; Brancusi working on the door of The Kiss, Targu jiu, July 2, 1938
Stamped and annotated on verso
Gelatin silver print, printed c. 1938
5 x 3 1/4 in (12.7 x 8.3 cm)
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Constantin Brâncuși (1876-1957)
Micu Marcu; Brancusi working on the door of The Kiss, Targu jiu, July 2, 1938
Stamped and annotated on verso
Gelatin silver print, printed c. 1935
5 x 3 1/8 in (12.7 x 7.9 cm)
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Man Ray (1890-1976)
L'etoile de mer, 1928
Gelatin silver contact print, printed c. 1928
Titled, dated, and annotated on verso
5 1/2 x 9 1/16 (14 x 23 cm)
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Barbara Morgan (1900-1992)
Martha Graham, Imperial Gesture, 1935
Gelatin silver contact print, printed c. 1935
Annotated on recto
EACH: 3 1/4 x 5 in (8.3 x 12.5 cm)
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André Kertész (1894-1985)
Ballet, New York City, 1937
Gelatin silver print mounted to board, printed c. 1937
13 1/2 x 10 7/8 in (34.3 x 27.6 cm)
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Adger Cowans (b. 1936)
Self-Portrait (Shrouded, Masked, Free), 1973
Three gelatin silver prints, printed c. 1973
Each signed, titled, dated, and numbered on verso
Each: 15 x 10 5/8 in (38.1 x 27 cm)
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Francesca Woodman (1958-1981)
Self-Portrait with Fur Hat, Knit Scarf, and Mary Jane Shoe, 1976-1977
Six contact prints, printed c. 1976-1977
8 x 10 in (20.3 x 25.4 cm)
each print: 2 1/4 x 2 1/4 in. (5.7 x 5.7 cm)
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Eve Sonneman (b. 1946)
Bowery Fire, 1980
Cibachrome print, printed c. 1980
Signed, titled, and dated on verso
8 x 9 7/8 in (20.3 x 25.1 cm)
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Sarah Sense (b. 1980)
strength, 2017
Signed and dated on recto
Signed, titled, and dated on versoWoven archival inkjet prints on bamboo and rice paper with wax and acrylic paint
16 x 48 in (40.6 x 121.9 cm)
Framed with hand-made artist frame
