On the occasion of a major donation to French public collections, the Centre Pompidou and Atelier EXB are publishing a book devoted to the American photographer Barbara Crane (1928-2019). Trained by Aaron Siskind at Chicago’s Institute of Design, she developed a multi-faceted body of work in the great experimental and formalist tradition initiated a few decades earlier in that city by László Moholy-Nagy and his New Bauhaus. Magnificently printed, with a rich critical apparatus (historical essays, notes on the works, interview with the artist, chronology, bibliography), the book offers an opportunity to discover astonishing series — Neon Series (1969), People of the North Portal (1970-1971), Monster Series (1982-83), etc. — which reveal the great talent of this hitherto under-recognized female artist.
