Genoa, a major exhibition on Man Ray at Palazzo Ducale with more than 300 works

Palazzo Ducale in Genoa dedicates an exhibition to one of the greatest exponents of twentieth-century art and among the pioneers of photography: Man Ray (Emmanuel Radnitzky; Philadelphia, 1890 - Paris, 1976). Entitled Man Ray. Works 1912-1975, the exhibition runs from March 11 to July 9, 2023 at the Appartamento del Doge, is curated by Walter Guadagnini and Giangavino Pazzola, and is produced by Suazes and Palazzo Ducale Fondazione per la Cultura.

More than three hundred works at the Doge’s Palace reconstruct Man Ray’s career: gone down in history as one of the greatest photographers of the last century, he was also an extraordinary avant-garde painter, sculptor and filmmaker, whose poetics were characterized from the very beginning by irony, sensuality and a desire to experiment, to break the mould and create new aesthetics. The monographic exhibition, divided into seven sections, chronologically traces the artist’s biography highlighting the innovative and original aspects of his work within the cultural contexts in which he worked.

Born in 1890 in Philadelphia, Man Ray made his New York debut with his first solo exhibition in 1915 and was one of the protagonists of American DADA along with Marcel Duchamp, his lifelong friend and artistic accomplice: their meeting gave birth to authentic icons of 20th-century art such as La tonsure and Elevage de poussiére (both on display in the exhibition), photographs that called into question the very idea of portraiture and reality, where the dusty surface of a glass becomes an alien, futuristic landscape.

When Man Ray moved to Paris in the early 1920s, he focused entirely on photography and published his first Rayographs, photographic images obtained without a camera, which were enthusiastically received by the Parisian art community. A community that at that time lives its golden season between Dadaism and Surrealism, of which Man Ray is both protagonist and witness.

The recurring themes in Man Ray’s poetics are those of the body and sensuality, which in the Surrealist period become the center of inspiration: to these years date the artist’s best-known images, photographs such as Larmes, La Priè;re. Blanche et noire, paintings and graphics such as A l’heure de l’observatoire - Les Amoureux, a sculpture such as Venus restaurée, an ironic and ingenious reflection on classicism, all works on display in the exhibition.

1940 marks the year of Man Ray’s return to the United States, due to World War II, and also marks a return to painting, in solitude. In the following years he would return often to Europe and Paris-where he died in 1976-creating new ready-mades and splendid paintings, born of a desire to reinvent the world through art and marked by his usual irony and intelligence.

The exhibition also provides space to appreciate Man Ray’s work in avant-garde cinema, with screenings of historic films such as Le Retour à la raison (1923), Emak Bakia (1926), L’Étoile de mer (1928) and Les Mystères du château du dé (1929).

Hours: Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. The box office closes one hour earlier. Tickets: full 13 euros, reduced 11 euros (visitors over 65; Friends of Palazzo Ducale and the Ligurian Museums; Ticket holders of other current exhibitions at Palazzo Ducale; Card holders of the Museums of the Municipality of Genoa; Amt annual season ticket holders; Coop Liguria card holders; Young people aged 14 to 27 with ID and/or university card; Arci card holders; Visitors with disabilities; IREN employees with accompanying person; Genoa City Council employees; Teachers; Ansaldo Foundation members; Artsupp card; Fincantieri Ansaldo Social Center), special reduced Ducale Card membership holders 9 euros, reduced schools and children from 6 to 14 years 5 euros, reduced under 27 5 euros (on Tuesdays non-holiday), free for under 6s; 1 companion per disabled person presenting a need; 1 companion for each group; 2 companions for each school group; handicapped pupils in school groups; licensed tour guides; ICOM members; teachers with email/voucher; journalists accredited by the Ducal Palace Press Office (subject to indication of the headline and date of the visit); complimentary coupon holders; Citypass Turistico holders; 1 companion of Freccia or Intercity train ticket holders.

Image: Man Ray, Noire et blanche (1926)

Genoa, a major exhibition on Man Ray at Palazzo Ducale with more than 300 works

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