M+B is proud to present Jones Beach, an exhibition of black and white photographs by Joseph Szabo. Images of tanned muscle men, catwalk-like displays of beach wear, heavily oiled skin, masses of sprayed hair, and all the pageantry of adolescence reveal the dynamics of a beach that was a true melting pot of humanity. There will be an opening reception for the artist on Thursday, June 10 from 6 to 8pm and a book signing for Szabo's newly released monograph by Abrams Books with introduction by Vince Aletti titled Jones Beach, on Saturday, June 12 from 2 to 4pm. The exhibition will run from June 10, 2010 to August 14, 2010.
Somewhat of an expert on the subject of teenagers with his previous works Almost Grown and Teenage, Szabo began shooting at Jones Beach one summer when his usual subjects – his photography students from Malverne High School – were no longer readily available. He chronicled the public and the private lives displayed on this ocean playground that is one of the world’s busiest beaches. Even if we weren’t there to enjoy the good weather and excellent people watching we have these photographs, which turn a captive eye to the urban masses who came out to celebrate their weekends, holidays and summers. Jones Beach reveals the forces in motion at such a theater of humanness, from moments of quiet introspection to flashy exuberance. Called the “people’s palace by the sea”, Jones Beach is still a unique space very different from the commercial appeal of Coney Island or the privileged seclusion of the Hamptons. On this democratic stretch of sand and ocean class, race, and other potential divisions were temporarily forgotten and Szabo’s sympathetic lens was there to capture it all.
Joseph Szabo is an internationally acclaimed artists whose previous bodies of work have influenced and been admired by an entire generation of photographers, directors and taste makers. Szabo was born in Toledo, Ohio in 1944. He studied photography at the Pratt Institute where he received his MFA in 1968 and went on to teach photography at Malverne High School in Long Island and at the acclaimed International Center of Photography in New York City for over 20 years. His work can be found in the permanent public collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), Museum of Modern Art (New York), Yale University (Connecticut), International Center of Photography (New York) and the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris, among others. This is Joseph Szabo’s second exhibition with M+B.
