Robert Frank Will Have Exhibition Prints Torn to Shreds After Pop-Up Show in Halifax

We’re not sure what it is about destroying one’s own work, but it seems Robert Frank, the photographer behind the iconic photobook The Americans, will be jumping on board with this trend following a pop-up exhibition at Anna Leonowens Gallery in Halifa, Nova Scotia.

According to American Photo Magazine, after 5pm on September 12th, just three short days away, all of the exhibition prints on display at the Gallery will be torn apart by the gallery staff. But this is not as tragic as it might sound.

All of the images were digitally printed on newspaper by Frank’s German publisher Gerhard Steidl. It’s all part of a plan to make Frank’s work available to new generations. As he explained in a video interview with the city’s Chronicle Herald:

For years, there hasn’t been an exhibition of Robert Frank’s [work] because all his photography is in the treasures of the national gallery in Washington, or in the hands of private collectors. And the photography is quite fragile, so it is not possible to send it around the world and exhibit it.

The idea was to make something totally inexpensive. It is printed on newspaper… no packaging, no transportation costs, no insurance, the exhibition is hanging on the wall, and at the end of the shot it is destroyed. No commercial value

It’s a wonderful idea, and a great way to ensure that young artists and photographers will be exposed to the now 89-year-old photographer’s most iconic work. Plus, after it’s over, you get to tear the whole darn thing up, which even gallery director Melanie Colosimo is forced to admit is, “kind of fun.”

Head over to the Chronicle Herald to find out more and see a video of the soon-to-be-destroyed prints going up.