2 Paul Outerbridge Shows In Los Angeles

2 Paul Outerbridge shows in LA!
One at The Getty, the other at the LA Public Library.

Says the Getty: "Outerbridge was celebrated for his ability to transform commonplace objects into semiabstractions through a keen sensitivity to pattern and light. Outerbridge's working method was to sketch out his ideas on paper before setting up objects in the studio and lighting them. His extraordinary degree of control allowed him to explore spatial relationships in a way that led critics to compare him to Modernist painters of his day".
Um, sound familiar? Although he certainly was not the first to employ this method, his influence can be seen all over.
Images below from Getty show.

images from the LA Public Library show, "Paul Outerbridge: New Color Photographs

from Mexico and California, 1948–1955", belowSays the Library show: “The curious position of prosperous American tourists amid the daily poverty experienced by some Mexicans is one of the recurring themes in the work, but with
Outerbridge there is no political polemic,” says co-curator Phillip Prodger. “Outerbridge
was thinking of his photographs as jig-saw puzzles made up of many different highlycolored
pieces, each placed with meticulous care.”

Among Outerbridge’s subjects are carnival carriages with passengers dressed
and headed for a grand party; a group of fashionable men relaxing in an outdoor hotel
lobby drinking Coke and beer while a small orchestra plays; a girl in a lime-green dress
and white sweater walking past a gas station whose painted-red details add a vibrant

flourish to the scene.