The Unseen Eye - W.M. Hunt

W.M. Hunt, curator and collector 

The Unseen Eye 

September 6 - 30, 2012

Referred to by The New Yorker as "legendary," W.M. Hunt is a renowned curator and dealer who has been collecting photographs for 40 years. A self-described "champion of photography," he is well known for his "eye" and sense of humor. Hunt describes the collection as "magical, heart-stopping images of people in which the eyes cannot be seen." More than 100 photographs from Hunt's collection will be on display in "The Unseen Eye" at Blue Sky for the month of September. 

The photographs in "The Unseen Eye" have a common theme - the gaze of the subject is averted, the face obscured, or the eyes firmly closed. The images evoke a wide range of emotions and are characterized, by what, at first glance, the subject conceals rather than what the camera reveals. "The collection and exhibition represent a very personal journey for me," says Hunt. "It is my conscious made manifest. These are all photos of me. But they're all of you, too. They are evocative, whimsical, representational, many things. I love the mystery of it. You have to react, to come to the image, to make up your own story."

Photographs by well-known artists such as Diane Arbus, Richard Avedon, Robert Frank, Robert Mapplethorpe, and Irving Penn will be on view. The range of the collection is demonstrated by the number of anonymous and vernacular images and, in keeping withBlue Sky's mission of presenting emerging talent, Mr. Hunt will also include works by many artists making their local debut.

A book on the collection, The Unseen Eye: Photographs from the Unconscious, was published by Aperture last fall. This is the first time highlights from the collection have been seen ion the West Coast of the US. Highlights from the collection were shown last year at the George Eastman House International Museum of Film and Photography following major exhibitions in Arles (France), Lausanne (Switzerland) and Amsterdam (The Netherlands).

W.M. Hunt will be in Portland to present a special performance of his monologue "The Unseen Eye: A Life in Photographs and Other Digressions ..." in the Miller Room of the Portland Art Museum at 2:00 PM on Saturday, September 8. This free event is presented in partnership with the Museum's Photography Council. 

"A Life ..." is a monologue with projections and video, a rumination on Hunt's many years of collecting and a life in photographs. Hunt began collecting during his early years as an actor. He has been a fundraiser (Photographers + Friends United Against AIDS, The Center for Photography at Woodstock and the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund), a dealer (Ricco/Maresca Gallery and his own Hasted Hunt), as well as a writer and teacher (ICP and School of Visual Arts).