Chicago 27

Aaron Siskind

1960

A gelatin silver photograph in which Aaron Siskind isolates peeling paint and weathered wall surfaces in Chicago, turning urban decay into a deliberately composed abstract study.

The eye is caught by a stepped cluster of flaking squares against a wide horizontal band of eroded circular marks, where crackled surfaces and subtle gray tones read like a minimalist relief.

This work exemplifies Siskind’s project of collapsing documentary observation and abstract expressionist concerns, showing how close attention to found urban detail opened photography to pure form, texture, and rhythm.

Palette

Art Terms

Gelatin silverprint (developing-out paper) Photography Abstraction Abstract Expressionism New York School

Exhibitions

Siskind from the Collection

1989

New York/New York

1978

Siskind Recently

1965

50 Photographs by 50 Photographers

1962