Description
A revelatory exploration of the work of the American photographer widely known for her pathbreaking 1977 photobook, IOWA.
The first major study of Nancy Rexroth (b. 1946), Secrets of My Power furnishes a missing account of her life, work and career as she established her artistic voice in the experimental 1970s and challenged prevailing approaches to photographic image-making. This book locates Rexroth’s practice in a period often associated with those of Diane Arbus, Francesca Woodman and the early work of Sally Mann.
Tracing Rexroth’s career from her first photographs to her discovery of the Diana camera and through her exploration of digital tools in the early 2000s, Secrets of My Power presents numerous works which have never previously been made public. These include experimental stills on film, a 53-image carousel slide show and a corpus of self-portraiture. Together with rigorous analysis of her previously known work, these new discoveries help to distinguish and connect Rexroth to key artistic formations of the American photography world in the 1960s, 70s and 80s, including contested social and creative terrain around feminism and gender, technical experimentation, engagement with language, artistic networks and photography’s emergence in universities, museums and the art market.
Edited by Nathaniel M. Stein
Contributions by Molly Kalkstein, Charlotte Ogorek, Nancy Rexroth, John Rohrbach and Nathaniel M. Stein
Author biographies
Dr. Nathaniel M. Stein is curator of Photography at Cincinnati Art Museum, OH
Dr. Molly Kalkstein is the Gary and Ellen Davis Curator of Photography at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum, Cornell University, NY
Charlotte Ogorek is the Rexroth Project Assistant at Cincinnati Art Museum, OH
Dr. John Rohrbach is curator emeritus, formerly senior curator of Photographs, at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art, TX
Table of Contents
- Foreword by Cameron Kitchin
- Introduction and Acknowledgements by Nathaniel M. Stein
- Plates: Early Work, 1967–1970
- Chronology by Charlotte Ogorek
- Plates: Self-Portraiture, 1970–1978
- Secrets of My Power: The Photographs of Nancy Rexroth by Nathaniel M. Stein
- Plates: IOWA, 1970–1976
- Three Studies: Ohio University, Transparencies, Platinum Printing by Molly Kalkstein
- Plates: SX-70 Transfer, 1979–1982
- IOWA in New York by John Rohrbach
- Plates: House Series and Empty Art Rooms, 2000–2004
- Selected Artist Statements by Nancy Rexroth
- Exhibition History by Charlotte Ogorek
- Notes to the Reproductions
- Selected Bibliography
- Index
