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Embrace

A work made of gelatin silver print.

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  • A work made of gelatin silver print.

Date:

September 22, 1984, printed October 2014

Artist:

Ken Schles
American, born 1960

About this artwork

In the 1980s Ken Schles was living in an abandoned tenement in New York’s East Village, documenting his life in the underground art and club scene. The images he made of the neighborhood’s architecture and denizens reveal a gritty, raw, and mesmerizing existence during a turbulent time. In 1988 Schles published the images in Invisible City, a book that soon became a cult classic. The grainy, often blurred photographs rich with deep blacks suggest impressions rather than facts, as in this embrace born of tenderness or desperation.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Photography and Media

Artist

Ken Schles

Title

Embrace

Place

United States (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Made 1984

Medium

Gelatin silver print

Edition

2 of 15

Dimensions

Image: 48.4 × 33 cm (19 1/16 × 13 in.); Paper: 50.8 × 40.6 cm (20 × 16 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Ralph and Nancy Segall

Reference Number

2017.469

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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