Diane Arbus: Constellation at Park Avenue Armory, New York
Author: Yasmeen Abdallah
Diane Arbus: Constellation is presented by the Park Avenue Armory, with curation by Matthieu Humery and printing by Neil Selkirk. The exhibition follows up on its debut at Maja Hoffmann’s LUMA Arles in 2023. Selkirk is the only person authorized to print the work of Arbus, while Humery’s practice offers riveting approaches to experiencing photography. Humery serves as director of the Living Archives program at the LUMA Foundation.
Extremely knowledgeable in the field of photography, Humery previously curated an exhibition focusing on the work of Irving Penn at the Mina Image Centre in Beirut. He also launched two major exhibitions at Palazzo Grassi: an exhibition of photographs by Henri Cartier-Bresson, and Chronorama, which was a show drawing from the Condé Nast archives. Humery has also worked in art advisory for leading photography collectors, and at institutions including Phillips, Christie’s, and the Pinault Collection.
Featuring a breadth of photographs by Diane Arbus, and with a comprehensive exhibition map in hand, eager gallery-goers commit to the tourist experience, native New Yorker or not. Save for A box of ten photographs, which remained as Arbus left it; Humery felt it was important to keep the experience of navigating Arbus’s life’s work loose and unrestricted. He intentionally kept the photographs off the walls, and open to a multitude of ways to view the work. The exhibition includes a mirrored wall, so that viewers can see themselves when interacting with the images. The gallery map provided is reminiscent of the old NYC subway maps that people used pre-smartphone. The searching, the connections, and the choose-your-adventure element are part of the fun of Constellation.
The title is an insight into how one should experience the show: the stars of each image align in no particular order, other than that they are meant to be gazed at with reverence and awe. Mounted in dark, minimalist frames, photographs are hung from high to low, asking viewers to meander and move through the installation slowly and organically. This intentionality leads me to believe that this experience is not just about observing the work of Arbus; it is also about imagining what it was like to be her.
Traversing through the stunning portraits, one finds oneself channeling Arbus’s endearing wonderment and wanderlust. The desire to capture these moments on film offers insight into who she might have been and what she felt. Through countless immortalized characters, we witness snippets of the artist - her desires, fears, and vulnerability.
The photographs that Arbus is best known for are present, and are interwoven amidst delightful surprise images that I hadn’t seen before. For the first time, all 454 of these images are exhibited together, making for a truly celestial experience. The titles are straightforwardly descriptive, at times humorously so, offering insight into what attracted Arbus to her subjects and compositions.
There is always a concern of exploitation and misrepresentation when discussing portraiture and photography, particularly in relation to the “othering” of marginalized people and the power wielded by the practitioner upon their subjects. Through this expanse of Arbus’s life’s work, however, a feeling of compassion and humanity for her subjects seems clear. As language and contexts have changed over time, there are inevitably sensitive titles and depictions that are touchy. Yet, the overall experience underscores Arbus’ earnestness and desire to capture what she saw as extraordinary, and there is a beauty in that sincerity of expressing veneration for her subjects.
With the majority of the photographs taken in New York City and the tri-state area, nostalgia is felt in viewing the streets and neighborhoods we walk today as they were several decades ago. Arbus takes us through old Penn Station, Atlantic City dressing rooms, and nudist colonies in New Jersey. She traveled up and down the coasts of the United States, with photos from England, Germany, and Italy, as well. Some dynamic cameos are interspersed in the nebulous installation, including James Brown, Joan Crawford, Marcel Duchamp, Roy Lichtenstein, Norman Mailer (and his cat), Jayne Mansfield, Agnes Martin, Frank Stella, Susan Sontag, and Mae West, among others.
Arbus was tireless in her quest to find interesting people and tell the world about their fascinating lives. Details are clearly important aspects of the snippets we are privy to. Each setting showed a different side of her subjects, and she sought to show their multidimensional qualities within her work. It is through Arbus’ storytelling that we travel to new worlds, oftentimes right in our backyard. Firmly rooted in the canon of great photographers and women-identifying artists, her legacy remains cemented in the cosmic realm from which Constellation is born.
Diana Arbus: Constellation is on view at Park Avenue Armory through August 17.
About the author: Yasmeen Abdallah is an interdisciplinary artist, curator, educator, and community organizer focused on history, contemporary culture, social engagement, and decolonial practice. Her work is in public, private, and traveling collections. She is a contributing writer for Artspiel and Urban Activist, among other publications, and is based in New York.
Notes on the images:
(1) Diane Arbus: Constellation, 2025, Park Avenue Armory. All artworks © The Estate of Diane Arbus exhibited courtesy of Collection Maja Hoffmann/LUMA Foundation. Installation Photo: Nicholas Knight.
(2) Diane Arbus: Constellation, 2025, Park Avenue Armory. All artworks © The Estate of Diane Arbus exhibited courtesy of Collection Maja Hoffmann/LUMA Foundation. Installation Photo: Yasmeen Abdallah.
(3) Diane Arbus: Constellation, 2025, Park Avenue Armory. All artworks © The Estate of Diane Arbus exhibited courtesy of Collection Maja Hoffmann/LUMA Foundation. Installation Photo: Yasmeen Abdallah.
(4) Diane Arbus: Constellation, 2025, Park Avenue Armory. All artworks © The Estate of Diane Arbus exhibited courtesy of Collection Maja Hoffmann/LUMA Foundation. Installation Photo: Yasmeen Abdallah.
Diane Arbus: Constellation, 2025, Park Avenue Armory. All artworks © The Estate of Diane Arbus exhibited courtesy of Collection Maja Hoffmann/LUMA Foundation. Installation Photo: Nicholas Knight.