Man Ray: Human Equations is an exhibition currently on display at Copenhagen's NY Carlsberg Glyptotek Gallery until September 20th, 2015. What makes it stand out is it's exploration of art and science that intersected at the beginning of the 20th century and defined a significant component of modern art and in particular the role Man Ray played in shaping it.
Man Ray was fascinated by art and science throughout his career. The pinnacle of which he believed to be was the Shakespearean Equations that he created in the late 1940s in which he drew on photographs of 19th-century mathematical models he made in the 1930s. The series took more than 15 years of exploration, and all of them are on display in this fascinating exhibition. The exhibit will compare and contrast the models, the photographs Man Ray took of his models, and the resulting paintings in a side by side display. The curation and allowance for greater context within Man Rays body of work should be illuminating to visitors.
The exhibition’s diverse works—including 70 photographs, 25 paintings, eight assemblages or modified “readymades” by Man Ray and 25 original mathematical models—juxtapose the artist’s Surrealist-inspired photographs of mathematical models and the associated Shakespearean Equations within the larger context of the role of the object in the artist’s work. The artist’s work is considered highly collectible with some of it selling at auction for over half a million dollars, so it is nice to see his work once more getting the recognition it deserves.
