Wave Hill Announces First Complete Exhibition of Gregory Crewdson Fireflies Series
Wave Hill is pleased to present Gregory Crewdson: Fireflies, a series of 61 photographs that will be shown for the first time as a complete group, starting in late May. In mounting the exhibition at this public garden and cultural center in the Bronx, Wave Hill offers visitors the rare opportunity to view Crewdson’s black-and-white photographs in an exquisite natural setting. The unique series was created in 1996, when Crewdson was living alone in his family’s cabin in rural Massachusetts. That summer, he immersed himself in observing and photographing fireflies, each night venturing out into the dusk to capture the fleeting light of these nocturnal creatures. Crewdson has written about this “solitary and magical time”:
The fireflies represented something very particular to me that summer. So simple yet imbued with significance. The sole illumination in the fast falling darkness. Also, the fact that what I was witnessing was a mating ritual. I was a silent onlooker to this perfect natural ceremony…It was the experience of taking the photographs that was most important to me at that time, rather than the actual images themselves. When I began printing the work, after the summer, for various reasons I felt the need to put the photographs away. Maybe because the images were so removed from my actualexperience of being there.
Ten years later, he revisited the project, and began to print the images. Some of the prints were exhibited as a group in 2006 with a limited-edition catalogue. A selection of images are also included in Gregory Crewdson, a monograph published by Rizzoli last year. Wave Hill approached Crewdson about exhibiting the complete set of artist’s proofs in the garden’s Glyndor Gallery; the photographer’s reaction to sharing them in this unique New York City context was enthusiastic. Visitors who know Crewdson’s cinematic photographs, often set in small towns, will be surprised by the simplicity and directness of these images.
The acclaimed photographer has exhibited extensively throughout the world and has works in significant public collections. These include the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the Los Angeles County Museum and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Gregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters is a 2012 documentary film about his process that explores the creation of the body of work “Beneath the Roses.”
A variety of public programs extend the experience of Gregory Crewdson: Fireflies, which is on view from May 23 through August 24, 2014. Wave Hill’s Curatorial Assistant offers guided gallery tours on Tuesdays and Saturdays at 2PM, free with admission to the grounds. Plans for the summer include a special evening nature walk, Fireflies and Other Insects of the Night, on June 24, and a Family Art Project, Fancy Fireflies, on July 26 and 27. The walk is fee-based and requires registration, at www.wavehill.org, onsite at the Perkins Visitor Center or by calling 718.549.3200 x251. The Family Art Project is free with admission to the grounds. On Sunset Wednesday evenings from July 2 through August 6, Wave Hill is open to the public for a special opportunity to view not only the exhibition in Glyndor Gallery, but to see actual fireflies in the evening gardens as well.
Support for the visual arts program is provided by the Milton & Sally Avery Arts Foundation, The New York Community Trust, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature and the Cathy and Stephen Weinroth Commissioning Fund for the Arts. Support for the Family Art Project is provided by the Sally and Gilbert Kerlin Endowment Fund at Wave Hill for Environmental Science and Nature Education, the National Endowment for the Arts and Target. The Institution's operations are made possible in part by public funds provided through the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.
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