SOUTHFIRST 60 North 6th Street Brooklyn, NY 11211 www.southfirst.org

GWENN THOMAS

Jack Smith in Cologne, 1974

May 6 – June 18, 2017

Reception for the artist, Sunday, May 21, 4 - 6 PM

SOUTHFIRST is proud to present "Jack Smith in Cologne, 1974" an exhibition presenting the photographic work of GWENN THOMAS. The 50 selenium-toned silver gelatin prints, part of a group initially taken for the magazine Avalanche, document Smith’s performance “Fear Ritual of Shark Museum” in 1974 at the Cologne Zoo during the Kölner Kunstverein Projekt ‘74. This body of work was first shown at Yvon Lambert gallery in 2006, in an exhibition organized by curator Ed Leffingwell. The exhibition also features for the first time Thomas’ contact sheets which show in film-like sequence Smith’s performance across five rolls of 35mm film. The show is on view from May 6 – June 18. 

Gwenn Thomas graduated from the Cooper Union 1968, and subsequently worked in the studios of Dan Budnik and Hans Namuth. Her photography first appeared in Avalanche in 1973. Her artwork was shown in solo exhibitions at John Weber gallery, Grace Borgenicht Gallery, and at P.S.1. in “The Altered Photograph” (1979). It was recently featured in exhibitions at Regina Rex and 57W57th Arts. Her work is in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, CAM, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian, Lisbon, Portugal, São Schlumberger, Paris, and the Julia Stoshek Collection, Düsseldorf. Writers about Thomas include Raphael Rubinstein, David Levi Strauss, and Lilly Wei, among others. She lives and works in New York, NY.

SOUTHFIRST, founded in 2000, is located at 60 North 6th Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn between Wythe and Kent Avenues. Gallery hours are Sat. and Sun. from noon - 6 PM and by appointment. Subway: L train to Bedford Avenue. For more information, please contact the gallery at 718 599 4884 or info@southfirst.org.