AMERICAN photographer Peter Hujar – Eyes Open in the Dark is opening at Raven Row Gallery, London from 29 January to 6 April 2025.
The first posthumous show to have access to the all the work of the influential American photographer Peter Hujar, Eyes Open in the Dark focuses on Hujar’s later work.
Peter Hujar, Paul Thek, Florida, 1957
Known for photographing his subjects with great sensitivity and psychological depth, Peter Hujar is recognised as one of the most important American photographers working in the last century.
He was also a major figure in New York City’s downtown arts and Avant Garde cultural scene in the 1970s and early 80s which he documented in his work.
Peter Hujar, Stephen Varble (III), Soho, New York, 1976
For the show, Raven Row is working closely with the artist’s estate and is alongside well-known images includes less familiar work which has been selected and prepared by, his close friend, the artist and master printer Gary Schneider, as well as the writer and Hujar biographer John Douglas Millar, and Raven Row’s director, Alex Sainsbury.
Peter Hujar, Canal Street Pier, 1983
Hujar’s mature work “processes his influences into a fully achieved and devastating personal style” and its darkening tone which entered his photographer in the 1980s as the AIDS crisis devastated his community.
Peter Hujar, Ethyl Eichelberger (II), 1981
Hujar died of AIDS-related pneumonia in 1987 when he was 53.
by Caroline Simpson
All images courtesy of The Peter Hujar Archive / ARS, New York and Pace Gallery, © Peter Hujar Archive, LLC
Raven Row, 56 Artillery Lane, London E1 7LS