William Eggleston20221112David Zwirner19601970100

19691974The Outlands

90Rachel KushnerRobert SlifkinMarcel DuchampDan GrahamJasper JohnsRobert Smithson3William Eggleston III

A selection of nearly one hundred previously unseen images from the 1960s and 1970s by the pioneer of color photography, William Eggleston.

The Outlands, a series of photographs taken by Eggleston between 1969 and 1974, establishes the groundbreaking visual themes and lexicon that the artist would continue to develop for decades to come. The work offers a journey through the mythic and evolving American South, seen through the artists lens: vibrant colors and a profound sense of nostalgia echo throughout Egglestons breathtaking oeuvre. His motifs of signage, cars, and roadside scenes create an iconography of American vistas that inspired a generation of photographers. With its in-depth selection of unforgettable imagesa wood-paneled station wagon, doors flung open, parked in an expansive rural setting; the artists grandmother in the moody interior of their familys Sumner, Mississippi homeThe Outlands is emblematic of Egglestons dynamic, experimental practice. The breadth of work reenergizes his iconic landscapes and forms a new perspective of the American South in transition.

Accompanying the ninety brilliant Kodachrome images and details, a literary, fictional text by the critically acclaimed author Rachel Kushner imagines a story of hitchhikers trekking through the Deep South. New scholarship by Robert Slifkin reframes the art-historical significance of Egglestons oeuvre, proposing affinities with work by Marcel Duchamp, Dan Graham, Jasper Johns, and Robert Smithson. A foreword by William Eggleston III offers important insights into the process of selecting and sequencing this series of images.