Dadaist Man Ray's Surreal Photographic Explorations in Mumbai Soon

Man Ray is also known for his cameraless photographs, which he called ‘Rayographs’.

Legendary 20th-century artist and photographer Man Ray explored a variety of both styles and mediums over the years. He dappled in fine art, commercial art, fashion and portrait photography, poetry, film and sculpture, and was seen as a significant contributor to the Dada and surrealism movements, but without being formally attached to either. He is also known for his cameraless photographs, which he called ‘Rayographs’.

On May 26, the first ever show of Ray’s work will open in India. ‘Views of the Spirit’, an exhibition of Ray’s photographs that was first shown in Madrid in 2014, will be on display at TARQ, Mumbai, in collaboration with Matthieu Foss and Mondo Galeria, Madrid. While Ray never came to India, he did photograph Indian personalities like Yeshwant Rao Holkar II and Sanyogita Devi of Indore in Cannes.

“The photographs on display cut across the timeline of his prolific career while also providing an insight to his thematic engagements and photographic techniques. These include ‘solarization’ – a photographic process using overexposure of the film negative and ‘rayography’ – a process that creates images without a camera by placing objects on a photosensitive paper exposed to light,” the organisers say.

“…This exhibition endeavours to bring forth the tour de force that was Man Ray. His images were born in the unique atmosphere of collaboration and camaraderie that defined the avant-garde space of Paris and New York. May Ray’s vast body of work changed the course of photography in the 20th century, taking the genre from a documentary tool to an art form that brought alive the space between the real and fantastical.”

‘Views of the Spirit’ will be on display at TARQ, Mumbai from May 26 to July 1, 2017.