The IAC – Institut d'Art Contemporain Villeurbanne and Le Rectangle / City of Lyon Art Centre, are presenting 2 individual exhibitions by the photographer Rajak Ohanian. They will open on 28 January 2004, at the IAC, and the following day at Le Rectangle. A joint preview will take place at Le Rectangle on 29 January at 6:30 pm.

Though Rajak Ohanian's photographic career covers more than 50 years, he is best known for his work in the theatre. But he also attracted attention for the reports he did in the 1950s and '60s – Les Gitans [The Gypsies], 1958-1960, L'Algérie [Algeria], 1964-1965, Londres [London], 1962, New York, 1962 – as well as for his numerous portraits of writers, philosophers, jazz musicians, theatre people, etc. He frequented and photographed these personalities and universes for professional purposes, but still more on account of his penchant for encounters.

Since his early work, his methods and series have undergone considerable changes. Accentuating his observation of the contexts of work, habitats, the rural world and daily life, the rigour of his work has established him as a leading exponent of the "social document". Among his important series there have been reports on life in cities, mining communities, a rural village and a small firm, which invite comparisons with the work of other artists who have looked at changes within the urban fabric, both social and human. In 2002, the most important of these series were presented in a retrospective exhibition at the Musée Nicéphore Niépce, Chalon-sur-Saône (Director: François Cheval), which was accompanied by a catalogue.

The IAC and Le Rectangle are adopting a different exhibition format to concentrate on the production and presentation of 2 large series that have up to now remained at the project stage: Portrait d'une PME [Portrait of a small firm] and A Chicago [In Chicago].
These series, which are finally being displayed in the size initially intended by Ohanian, demonstrate the quality and relevance of his work.

Portrait d'une PME, which is being premiered at Le Rectangle, was produced in 1999. In this series, Ohanian portrays, in a minimalist way, the employees of a small firm in Lyon. The 32 frontal, full-length views show people facingthe camera, with bales of cloth, the product of their work, in the background, as in the studios of days gone by. These life-size portraits, give a good illustration of Ohanian's interest in the social document, and his insistence on the subject's dignity. Here he is reclaiming the classical portrait genre, but more in the mode of an encounter with the other person than in that of cold, mechanical observation. These portraits describe and document a distinctive, typical social body in the world of work, as represented by a small firm. Portrait d'un village [Portrait of a village], another major series, which featured the 44 inhabitants of a small village in Burgundy between 1979 and 1982, also demonstrates this twofold character of Ohanian's approach.

The same principle has guided Ohanian's work since the 1950s, as can be seen in his portraits of writers, philosophers, theatre people, artists and musicians: Bram Van Velde, Gaston Bachelard, Louis Aragon, Thelonius Monk, Jean-Noël Vuarnet, etc. These portraits, which are also being presented at Le Rectangle, are an index of individual encounters and friendships, but at the same time they constitute a study, and a depiction, of a "community of mind"…

A Chicago, produced between 1987 and 1989, is made up of 17 photographs, 7 of which will be on show at the IAC. In these large photographic "suites", each of 36 images (an entire roll of film), all with the same framing, and photographed from a single, static angle, the cadence is set by the succession of bodies in the frame thus defined. More random than sequential, like the syncopated rhythms of blues, the 36 images merge into a single monumental photograph.

This observation of the motions, gestures and attitudes of passers-by in precise urban spaces (streets, public places, buildings), carried out over a period of around 2 years, made it possible to record the evolving life of a particular place over time. The idea was to cast light on, and trace out, the activity of a metropolis – in this case, Chicago. These "suites" reveal Rajak Ohanian's personal way of looking at cities, which differs from that of present-day urban photography in general. He is more attentive to individuals, and how they inhabit spaces, than to the way the urban setting is organised by architecture.

• A conversation with Rajak Ohanian
Wednesday 24 March 2004, 7:00 pm
At the IAC

• Richard Crevier: A lecture on Rajak Ohanian
In the presence of the artist
Moderators: Dirk Snauwaert and Laurent Godin
Wednesday 11 February 2004, 6:00 pm
At Le Rectangle

Portrait d'une PME and Portraits
Le Rectangle (City of Lyon Art Centre)
Place Bellecour
69002 Lyon
France
30 January – 14 March 2004
Tuesday – Sunday, 12:00 am – 7:00 pm
Admission: €2.00
+ 33 (0)4 72 41 88 80
Info@lerectangle.com
www.lerectangle.com

A Chicago
IAC – Institut d'Art Contemporain / FRAC Rhône-Alpes
11 rue Docteur Dolard
69100 Villeurbanne
France
29 January – 18 April 2004
Wednesday, 1:00 – 8:00 pm; Thursday – Sunday, 1:00 – 6:00 pm
Admission: €4.00, €2.50
+ 33 (0)4 78 03 47 00
iac@i-art-c.org
www.i-art-c.org