Untitled
Michael Snow
Canadian, 1929–2023
Harry Shunk
German, 1924–2006
János Kender
Hungarian, 1937–2009
1971
A gelatin silver photograph of a vacant industrial hall in which the photographer frames deep shadow against a single bright opening to make the emptied space feel charged and cinematic.
Your eye is drawn along a narrow diagonal band of light across the dark floor toward a luminous rectangular doorway that frames the street outside, while high windows, pipes, and rafters dissolve into dense blackness.
The image sits between documentary and formalist traditions, treating urban decay as a field of light and shape and reflecting a mid‑20th‑century interest in photographing industrial ruins as subjects with aesthetic and historical weight.
Medium
Gelatin silver print
Dimensions
7 11/16 × 7 11/16" (19.6 × 19.6 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation in honor of Jennifer Winkworth and Kynaston McShine and in memory of Harry Shunk and János Kender
Accession
1018.2013.406
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
