MAN RAY
La Ballade des Dames Hors du Temps
ETCHINGS (AQUATINTS)


February 12 - May 31, 2006
Reception & Showing: Sunday, February 12
6pm - 8pm, in the lounge at FIGARO
1802 N. Vermont Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90027
Gallery Info: 323-913-2513
Dinner Reservations: 323-662-1587

Man Ray was born Emmanuel Radnitsky, in 1890, in Philadelphia, USA. In his early twenties he changed his name.

His talents were obvious even in childhood. He was skilled at building, reparing, inventing and drawing. After rejecting a scholarship to study architecture, he supported himself as a commercial artist and draftsman while taking night classes in art at various New York schools. Man Ray was a frequent visitor to Alfred Steiglitz's gallery and spent long hours discussing art with his mentor, Robert Henri. At 25, he had his first solo show. His work reflected the influence of cubism, which he avidly studied.

After meeting Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray bought his first camera. His friendship with Duchamp lasted more than 50 years and it was Duchamp who encouranged him to move to Paris in 1921. Man Ray would spend almost the rest of his life there, becoming an important member of the Parisian Dadaist and Surrealist circles.

Man Ray is known for his experimentation in almost every medium. His art is loaded with complicated puns and shocking subtexts. His close friendships with artists of all disciplines were crucial in promoting a progressive dialog within Modernism on the merits of photography as an art form. With Lee Miller, Ray developed a photographic solarization process that he used in portraits and nudes. By the time of his death in Paris at age 86, his medium had emerged not only as an accepted art form but as a universal form of visual communication.

The Images of LA BALLADE DES DAMES HORS DU TEMPS (Ballad of Women Out of Time) originated from 1934 of the writings of Andre Breton, from which Man Ray created these images. The etchings (aquatints) shown were published in 1970 as a Portfolio, in a small edition of 5 (hors-commerce), printed on Japon Nacré paper, hand signed and numbered by Man Ray. The regular edition of 75 was printed on Arches Paper.