After a three-year tour, "Alexander Rodchenko: Modern Photography, Photomontage and Film" is making its last stop in the place that got the show started, UNM Art Museum.
Rodchenko was the first photographer of his time to play with scale and type face - essentially breaking up the idea of what a photography was.
He worked with other influential artists of his time like poet Vladimir Mayakovsky, critic Osip Brik and painter Liubov Popova, and they too are part of this show.
Kathleen Howe, UNM Art Museum curator of prints and photographs, said that these artists banded together in the Soviet Union after the Russian Revolution and they had high hopes about changing the society in which they lived.
"These photos won't be seen together again, so it's pretty exciting in that sense," said Howe.
Steve Yates, curator of photography at the Museum of New Mexico in Santa Fe, had the idea three years ago and approached UNM with it. Yates met Rodchenko's widow and was able to bring prints to this show that had never been seen before. The collection includes more that 90 gelatin silver prints, photo collages and photomontages - some of which were printed directly from negatives that Rodchenko's widow had.
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"Rodchenko's experiments and explorations in the medium led to new techniques in photography throughout the world, methods used by today's artists to incorporate photography into their work and the introduction of digital technologies," Yates said in a news release.
Howe said Rodchenko's versatile photos and graphic design impacted society in Russia forever, and his works today continue to greatly influence design. His interest in cutting things up and putting them back together gave new perspective into what graphic design should be.
"Nobody would have done that before," Howe said. "The thing Rodchenko is specifically known for is changing the way photography is done and making it more active."
Not only are Rodchenko's photos at the gallery, but his films are as well. He was interested in what would happen if an artist took movie film and presented it as a photo.
"Some of these things don't sound exciting now, but at the time they were very cutting edge," Howe said.
The variety in this show is vast. Rodchenko's camera gives the viewer eyes into zoos, sporting events, equestrian meets, magazine covers of the early 1900s and much more that only Rodchenko could have captured. His use of odd angles and montage shows a world that no one else had seen before.
"He was a very popular photographer with 'the powers that be' so he had access to all kinds of things," Howe said.
Although Yates will not be able to speak at the show as planned, Ira Jaffe, a UNM professor, will lecture and screen "Rodchenko and Constructionist Film" on Feb. 17. Professor Natasha Kolchevska of the Russian studies program will lecture on the exhibit on March 9.
"The first factor might be called the factor of invention. It will be a dynamic principle that will carry art forward and open the way to new conquests." - Rodchenko said in 1919.
What: "Alexander Rodchenko: Modern Photography,
Photomontage and Film"
When: Friday through May 16
Where: UNM Art Museum
Price: Free
Ticket Info: 277-4001
