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March 31, 2010

On and Off the Walls: A First Look at Pier 24

Posted by Whitney Johnson

In six short years, Andrew Pilara has amassed over two thousand photographic works—from a Diane Arbus print, the first in his collection, to a grotesque Marilyn Minter video—and transformed adilapidated pier beneath the Bay Bridge in San Francisco into one of the largest spaces for photography in the United States. Each work is installed without any caption information, so lookingbecomes an exercise in recognition and speculation, and ultimately conversation.

And that’s just what occurred on a Saturday evening earlier this month, as thirty or so photographers, curators, picture editors, and professors of photography roamed the galleries: “Is that PieterHugo or Viviane Sassen?,” one asked. (It was actually Jackie Nickerson.) Allan Sekula or Vera Lutter? (Vera Lutter it was.) In some galleries, the scale of the collection—all fifty-two of LeeFriedlander’s “Little Screens”; all of “The Animals” by Garry Winogrand—overwhelmed the discussion. And though the view across the San Francisco Bay distracted the crowd momentarily, it wasthe work that held our attention.

Pier 24 is scheduled to open to the public later this spring. Get a first look here, with selected commentary by director Christopher McCall.

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This larger-than-life “Catherine of Aragon,” by Hiroshi Sugimoto, is installed alongside Henry VIII and his other five wives.

A still from Marilyn Minter’s video “Green Pink Caviar”: “Andy collects with his heart, his eyes,” said McCall. “He often says he colle

“By not having text, we invite the viewer to be more engaged with the work—to consider the juxtaposition of images, or the visual experience of the images togethe

Several galleries reflect themes, such as the social and topographical impact of industrialization, that run through the collection. “Cedric, Farm Worker, Malawi” is p

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Andrew Pilara;Pier 24;San Francisco;photography

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I like the tone

Posted 4/3/2010, 1:31:39am by MartineFougeronReport abuse

Adjacent to Nickerson’s portrait, Edward Burtynsky’s “Manufacturing #10A, Cankun Factory, Xiamen City,” installed as a diptych with

McCall has three favorite rooms: Garry Winogrand’s series “The Animals” is installed as the original book, published by MOMA with an

Another features eighty of the ninety-four images in Larry Clark’s “Teenage Lust” series, installed salon style; all four walls begin and end with an image of Clark.

And all of Lee Friedlander’s “Little Screens”: “It is the first time that the entire portfolio has been displayed together.”

Todd Hido is one of several San Francisco-based artists whose images, including work from his series “House Hunting,” are in the collection. “San Francis