Cataclysm: The 1972 Diane Arbus Retrospective Revisited

David Zwirner and Fraenkel Gallery have come together for the presentation of “Cataclysm: The 1972 Diane Arbus Retrospective Revisited,”  which is on view at David Zwirner’s 537 West 20th Street gallery from September 14—October 22. Revisiting the retrospective on the occasion of its 50th anniversary, the show employs the same selection of images (113, to be exact) to bring light to the harsh critiques that came in the wake of the original retrospective and how Arbus’s subversive photography has impacted the art world. With a special eye for capturing the beauty of the ordinary, the artist’s images are thoughtful compositions in black and white where the subjects are caught in a moment of stillness, existing both looking at their photographer and possibly unaware of her presence—like the 1963 Triplets in their bedroom, N.J. or the sleeping infant titled A very young baby, N.Y.C. [Anderson Hays Cooper].