Bookforum Reviews Peter L’Official’s Urban Legends: The South Bronx in Representation and Ruin
The Bronx, New York. Courtesy Bookforum
“Urban Legends is a parabolic dish microphone pointed at history, collecting the waves that outsiders have bounced off the South Bronx,” writes Sasha Frere-Jones. “The triumph of the book is the first half, where L’Official corrals visual depictions of the South Bronx and builds a lattice of history and shadows. … L’Official examines the work of visual artist Gordon Matta-Clark and photographer Ray Mortenson alongside a huge stash of tax photos taken in the 1980s, and the book blooms. Having synthesized this cohort, L’Official offers us an understanding of ‘the elasticity of both the archive and fine art to represent subjects with occasionally remarkable intricacy.’”
Post Date: 10-06-2020
Post Date: 10-06-2020