Dynamic Duos: The Art of Working in Pairs to Open at The New York Public Library

February 19, 2025—On March 22, 2025, Dynamic Duos: The Art of Working in Pairs will open at The New York Public Library. Challenging ideas of the singular creative genius, this exhibition will feature prints, photographs, and illustrated books dating from the mid-sixteenth century to the present that are the creative expression of not one but two artists. 

Artistic duos are often regarded as a phenomenon of modern and contemporary art. Collaboration has long, however, been an important part of how art was made. Printmaking in particular is a medium that from its beginnings has frequently relied on the hands of two separate artists working together on the same printing plate to achieve a unified visual effect.

Dynamic Duos will pull back the curtain on this history to demonstrate how modern notions of co-authorship have their origins in earlier times, especially the practice of some printmakers who by the sixteenth century had begun acknowledging their art as the product of their combined efforts and asserting the value of their cooperative labor. Building on this foundation, artistic duos today frequently conceive the act of co-creation as an opportunity to use their united voices to make a political statement or affect societal change. 

“Artistic duos have come together in both temporary and long-term partnerships as a result of romantic relationships, sibling ties, friendship and business arrangements,” said Madeleine Viljoen, Curator of Prints and the Spencer Collection at the New York Public Library. “By framing their work in terms of collective action, they demonstrate the power of making art that transcends the individual and that speaks to the possibilities of shared communication.”

Highlights from the exhibition include:

• Peacocks (1905), an etching by twin brothers Maurice and Edward Detmold;
• Kamernyi Teatr. (1927) by Vladimir and Georgii Stenberg;
• Flight into Egypt by Hercules Seghers and Rembrandt van Rijn;
• Untitled (1947) by Joan Miró and Stanley William Hayter;
• Stones (1959) by Larry Rivers and Frank O’Hara;
• Exquisite Corpse (2000) by Jake and Dinos Chapman;
• Industriebauten (1968) by Bernd and Hilla Becher;
• X Commandments (1995) by Gilbert and George;
• Petrole Hahn Hairconditioner (1931) by Ringl & Pit; and
• The Anointed (1991) by McDermott & McGough.

The exhibition considers some of the different ways in which artists have worked together.

While the prints produced by some artistic partnerships aim to produce an impression of seamlessness, such as an etching of a peacock by twin brothers Charles and Edward Detmold, others reflect the distinctiveness of the separate hands involved in their creation, including Rembrandt van Rijn’s famous reworking of an earlier composition by Hercules Seghers.

In other cases, artists have relied on elaborate games—some inspired by the Surrealist game known as the Exquisite Corpse—or rule-setting to ensure that their works are expressive of two very different artistic sensibilities, as seen for instance in a work by James Siena and Katia Santibañez.

Along with prints, Dynamic Duos will showcase photographs that were created by pairs of artists, demonstrating how collaboration in photography, as in printmaking, can take many forms.   

Additional highlights include:

• Johann and Lucas van Doetecum, 1568;
• Untitled (2012-13), lithographs by Gert and Uwe Tobias;
• They will Torture you, my Friend (1971) by Nancy Spero and Leon Golub;
• Fourhand Choker (2018) by Katia Santibanez and James Siena; and
• Date Seller Constantinople (circa 1890) by Jean Pascal Sebah and Policarpe Joallier.

Dynamic Duos will open simultaneously with Robert Motherwell: At Home and In the Studio, marking the first time in the history of the Library that two art exhibitions are on display at the same time. The two exhibitions, both sourced from the Wallach Division, underscore the Library’s dedication to the visual arts, including as a tool for education.

“For over a century, The New York Public Library has championed discovery, creativity, and learning for all. Our growing visual arts collections are critical to that mission, and with the launch of Dynamic Duos: The Art of Working in Pairs and Robert Motherwell: At Home and In the Studio, we celebrate a new milestone in making the Library’s visual holdings more accessible and inspiring than ever,” said Brent Reidy, Andrew W. Mellon Director of the Research Libraries at The New York Public Library.

The exhibition, which consists of 45 items, will be displayed in the Ispahani-Bartos Gallery at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building until August 2, 2025. This exhibition has been made possible by the continuing generosity of Miriam and Ira D. Wallach.

Support for The New York Public Library’s Exhibitions Program has been provided by Celeste Bartos, Sue and Edgar Wachenheim III, Mahnaz Ispahani Bartos and Adam Bartos Exhibitions Fund, and Jonathan Altman.

 

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