FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Through the Lens of a Poet:
Allen Ginsberg Photgraphs Depict the Beats

Allen Ginsberg: Beat Generation Photographer

August 17, 2006 – Sacramento, Calif. – On view from October 28, 2006 – January 7, 2007 at the Crocker Art Museum, Allen Ginsberg: Beat Generation Photographer, will be exhibited for the first time on the West Coast. Ginsberg’s personal photos reveal the tightly connected group of writers and circle of close friends who came to personify the Beats. Their bohemian, even reckless lifestyles resulted in an ongoing American fascination with Ginsberg and his fellow writers and visionaries, who include Jack Kerouac, William Burroughs, Neal Cassady, Peter Orlovsky and Timothy Leary, among others. 

Featured are 32 black-and-white photographs highlighting Ginsberg’s unique snapshot aesthetic. Drawn from the private Pennsylvania collection of David Sestak, these images present an intimate dialogue that ultimately addresses Ginsberg’s own cultivation of—and grappling with—fame. The boundary between the public and personal identity of the Beat heroes is blurred in posed and candid moments stilled forever on film. Each photograph is accompanied by autobiographical commentary inscribed by Ginsberg. This running stream of Ginsberg’s consciousness provides context for the images, yet also offers his spontaneous, poetic voice. For Ginsberg, snapshot photography granted him the instantaneous ability to capture the world in a way that fueled his insatiable impulse to describe all that surrounded him.

This show was organized by the Allentown Art Museum of the Lehigh Valley from the David Sestak Family Collection.

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The Crocker Art Museum was founded in 1885 and continues as the leading art institution for the California Capital Region and Central Valley. The Museum offers a diverse spectrum of special exhibitions, events and programs to augment its collections of Californian, European and Asian artworks. The Crocker is located at 216 O Street in downtown Sacramento. Museum hours are 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., Tuesday – Sunday; Thursday until 9 p.m. For more information on exhibits and events call (916) 264-5423 or visit crockerartmuseum.org.

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Media Contact: LeAnne R. Ruzzamenti
Media: (916) 264-1963
Mobile : (916) 213-9402
Public: (916) 264-5423
216 O Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
www.crockerartmuseum.org