Shunk-Kender Explained

Shunk-Kender is the artistic collaboration of Harry Shunk and János Kender, who worked together largely from 1958 to 1973.^{[1] [2]}

Artistic duo

Shunk and Kender were based initially in Paris and later in New York City.^[3] They collaborated with many artists including Yves Klein (on "Leap into the Void" (1960)),^{[4] [5] [6]} Robert Rauschenberg, Merce Cunningham, Eva Hesse, Alexander Calder, Man Ray, Christo and Jeanne-Claude, and around 400 others.^[1]

They "were hired as a team by artists and dealers to record events from routine gallery openings to major conceptual happenings." They attributed their work to the pair of them rather than individually.^[1]

Disbanding

When they disbanded in 1973, Kender gave Shunk control of the joint material, and Shunk continued working with photography for a further 30 years.^[1]

Publications

• Shunk-Kender – Art Through the Eye of the Camera (1957–1983). Paris: Xavier Barral, 2019. .
  • Shunk-Kender – L'art sous l'objectif (1957–1982). Paris: Xavier Barral, 2019. .

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

• Art on Camera: Photographs by Shunk-Kender, 1960–1971, Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2015^[7]

Group exhibitions

• Performing for the Camera, Tate Modern, London, 2016^{[8] [9] [10] [11] [12]}

Collections

The Roy Lichtenstein Foundation donated the Harry Shunk and Shunk-Kender Photography Collection—more than 200,000 prints, negatives and other photographic material—to a consortium of five art institutions:^[1] Centre Pompidou in Paris (10,000 prints),^[13] Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles ("183,000 items, including a near-complete set of 19,000 prints, 12,000 contact sheets, 126,000 negatives, and 26,000 color transparencies and slides"),^[14] Museum of Modern Art in New York City, National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. (around 2,300 images documenting Christo and Jeanne-Claude and their epic installation works),^[15] and Tate in the UK (305 works).^[16] the Foundation retained roughly 25,000 Shunk-Kender works.^[1]

Notes and References

1. News: Ted. Loos. 2021-07-04. Art-Scene Glimpses, Lost Then Found. The New York Times. 18 December 2013. 0362-4331.
2. Web site: Hrag. Vartanian. 2021-07-04. Two Photographers Emerge from the Shadows with Over 400 Artist Portraits. 20 December 2013. Hyperallergic.
3. Web site: 2021-07-04. Shunk-Kender. Art on Camera. 18 March 2015. Wall Street International.
4. Web site: 2021-07-04. Exposed: photography's fabulous fakes. 31 January 2016. The Guardian.
5. Web site: 2021-07-04. Performing for the Camera review – pain, passport photos and genital panic. 15 February 2016. The Guardian.
6. Web site: 2021-07-04. Leap into the Void. www.metmuseum.org.
7. Web site: 2021-07-04. Art on Camera: Photographs by Shunk-Kender, 1960–1971. The Museum of Modern Art.
8. News: 2021-07-05. Performing for the Camera, Tate Modern, London. Financial Times. 21 February 2016 . Spence . Rachel .
9. Web site: 2021-07-05. Performing for the camera long pre-dates the selfie. 6 February 2016. The Independent.
10. Web site: 2021-07-05. Performing for the Camera review – pain, passport photos and genital panic. 15 February 2016. The Guardian.
11. Web site: 2021-07-05. Aesthetica Magazine - Performing for the Camera, Tate Modern. Aesthetica Magazine.
12. Web site: 2021-07-05. The art of posing: 'Performing for the Camera' at Tate Modern. 18 February 2016. Wallpaper*.
13. Web site: 2021-07-04. Fonds Harry Shunk et Shunk-Kender. Centre Pompidou.
14. Web site: 2021-07-04. Harry Shunk and Shunk-Kender Archive (Getty Research Institute). www.getty.edu.
15. Web site: 2021-07-04. Shunk-Kender Photography Collection. www.nga.gov.
16. Web site: 2021-07-04. Harry Shunk 1924–2006. Tate.