Exhibition: Stephen Bulger Gallery - Vivian Maier: Meaning Without Context

Exhibition Dates: June 23 – September 10, 2016
Opening Reception: Thursday, June 23, 5-8pm

TORONTO, June 15, 2016 /CNW/ - Stephen Bulger Gallery is proud to present our third exhibition of photographs by Vivian Maier (1926 - 2009). This exhibition features a selection of images captured in the 1950's through to the mid-1970's, a number of which have never been previously seen.

Vivian Maier's work caught the photography community by surprise, and her story has captured the imagination of people around the world. Unseen during her lifetime, the subsequent discovery of her negatives and dissemination of the photographs have fostered layers of intrigue and have jeopardized the simple enjoyment of her practice.

Vivian Maier was born in New York City and lived many years in France's Champsaur Valley, where several generations of her maternal family had lived. As a young woman she became enamoured with photography and would often shoot a full roll of film or more in a day, a habit that she seemingly continued throughout her life. In the early 1950's she returned to New York and later moved to the North Shore of Chicago where she lived until her death in 2009.

Vivian Maier was, by all accounts, a private person. While she was rarely without her camera, there is little evidence to suggest that she shared her photographs with others. Over the past seven years, the caretakers of her collection have had the joy of sharing her work with the world in exhibitions throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. The public reaction to her work is unprecedented and her reputation as a photographer continues to grow as her work is exhibited and appreciated.

To date, five books of Maier's work have been published, including, Vivian Maier: Eye to Eye written by Richard Cahan and Michael Williams, 2014; and Out of the Shadows, Cahan and Williams, 2012. Ms. Maier has also been the subject of two documentary films: The Vivian Maier Mystery, an award-winning film by the BBC, and Finding Vivian Maier, a film that chronicles her life as well as the instrumental role that Chicago historian John Maloof has played in bringing her work to the public's attention and who owns approximately 90% of her photographic legacy.

SOURCE Stephen Bulger Gallery

Stephen Bulger Gallery, 1026 Queen Street West Toronto Canada, 416.504.0575, [email protected]