Presenting Annie Leibovitz: Stream of Consciousness — A Visionary Retrospective Unveiled
Annie Leibovitz: Stream of Consciousness
2 November 2024 – 11 January 2025
Hauser & Wirth New York, 22nd Street
‘Exhibtions of my work usually arranged chronologically. The images tell a story shaped by time. But there are some photographs – Georgia O’Keeffe’s red hill, the portrait of Joan Didion in Central Park – that rhyme with photographs from other places, other times. They aren’t moored to the moment they were made. I keep returning to these images’ – Annie Leibovitz
New York… Opening November 2, Annie Leibovitz: Stream of Consciousness unveils a compelling collection of the celebrated American photographer’s works, spanning landscapes, still lifes, and portraits captured over the past twenty years. Rather than following a traditional timeline or fixed themes, this exhibition provides a unique glimpse into Leibovitz’s free-flowing creative approach, highlighting how her images interact to underscore influential cultural moments of our era.
Stream of Consciousness features both well-known portraits of cultural icons—such as Louise Bourgeois, Billie Eilish, and Salman Rushdie—as well as pieces never displayed publicly before. Among these new works are the “Selldorf Suite,” a series of photographs taken at the historic Frick Collection on East 70th Street in New York. Just days after a visit with architect Annabelle Selldorf at her home in Maine, where the two discussed the complexities of the Frick’s renovation, Leibovitz captured four images on-site at the museum’s construction zone in Manhattan. These striking works are the first that visitors encounter, setting the tone for an exhibition that is as much a journey into Leibovitz’s mind as it is a reflection of contemporary culture.
Stream of Consciousness brings together striking portraits of contemporary cultural icons like Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson and the late Stephen Hawking, alongside evocative images of landscapes, interiors, and historical artifacts—including Abraham Lincoln’s top hat and Elvis Presley’s bullet-pierced television. These dynamic pairings reveal Leibovitz’s mastery of capturing both the deeply personal and the universally resonant, weaving an intuitive, narrative-driven approach throughout her diverse subjects.
About the artist
Leibovitz is the recipient of many honors. In 2006, she was made a Commandeur in the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. She has received the International Center of Photography’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the first Creative Excellence Award from the American Society of Magazine Editors, the Centenary Medal of the Royal Photographic Society in London, the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art Award to Distinguished Women in the Arts, the Wexner Prize and the Prince of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities. She has been designated a Living Legend by the United States Library of Congress and and in 2024 was inducted into the prestigious Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. She lives in New York with her three children, Sarah, Susan and Samuelle.
Several collections of Leibovitz’s work have been published. They include ‘Annie Leibovitz: Photographs,’ (1983); ‘Annie Leibovitz: Photographs 1970–1990,’ (1991); ‘Olympic Portraits’ (1996); ‘Women,’ (1999), in collaboration with Susan Sontag; ‘American Music,’ (2003); ‘A Photographer’s Life, 1990-2005,’ (2006); ‘Annie Leibovitz at Work’ (2008; revised edition 2018 and 2024), a first-person commentary on her career; and ‘Pilgrimage,’ (2011); ‘Annie Leibovitz: Portraits 2005-2016,’ (2017); ‘Annie Leibovitz: The Early Years, 1970-1983,’ (2018); ‘Annie Leibovitz: Wonderland,’ (2021).
All images:
Annie Leibovitz
© Annie Leibovitz
Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth
Brice Marden’s studio, Tivoli, Upstate New York 2024
Archival pigment print
50.8 x 66 cm / 20 x 26 in
Upstate New York
2024
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