Collector's Eye:
The Maloney Collection
On view: October 23–November 29, 2015
On view: September 2–November 13, 2021
Silver Street Studios
2000 Edwards Street
Houston, Texas U.S.A.
Silver Street Studios
2000 Edwards Street
Houston, TX 77007
Monday–Saturday | 9AM–5PM
Silver Street Studios
2000 Edwards Street
Houston, TX 77007
Monday–Saturday | 9AM–5PM
Installation view of the exhibition Collector's Eye: The Maloney Collection at FotoFest. Photo courtesy of Nash Baker.
In the early stages of planning this exhibition with James Edward Maloney, a passionate collector of photography by an expansive range of artists, a central question emerged almost immediately: how do you establish a taxonomy, or scheme of classification, to understand the wildly diverse gathering of images that comprise his collection?
First and foremost, Mr. Maloney collects what he responds to and what he wants to live with, displaying each and every work he purchases. His acquisition decisions appear to be driven by a deep intuitive response to the images, as opposed to a strategy of following trends in the market. After some thirty years of following his instincts, the result is a remarkable collection of images that are often surprising and deeply resonant.
Impressively broad in scope, the Maloney Collection contains a number of readily apparent themes: modern masters, Czech photography, street photography, and a number of individual artists that the collector has acquired in-depth. Other timbres and correspondences in the collection emerge after close observation; tropes include, but are not limited to, the gaze, keen social commentary, socially alienated subjects, the human condition, and form as conceptual content.
The arrangement of works in the collector’s home suggests some of these themes, and is echoed in this exhibition. For example, Jeffrey Hoone’s Slip, 1996, an image of lingerie, and Frank Yamrus’s Untitled (Icelandic Glacial), 2008, a photograph of a sculptural water bottle, are displayed in close proximity. The juxtaposition highlights their shared exploration of the junctures of materiality, language, and meaning.
Similar associations and relationships are found throughout; some are gathered here for the purposes of the exhibition, connecting the dots. Each wall in the exhibition contains discrete groupings, organized according to the themes that emerged through researching the collection. Exploring the images reveals a wealth of affinities, unexpected delights, and new discoveries for the viewer.
Steven Evans
Exhibition Curator and Executive Director, FotoFest International
Special thanks go to James Edward Maloney for his generosity in sharing
the Maloney Collection with FotoFest and the public.
FEATURED ARTISTS
Selected from the Maloney Collection of photography, this edition of the Collector’s Eye exhibition series features works from sixty internationally known artists, collected over the course of nearly three decades. The collection includes works from well-known contemporary artists, as well as regarded historic photographers.
Berenice Abbott (USA)
Anderson and Low (UK)
Bill Armstrong (USA)
Pavel Baňka (Czech Republic)
Ferenc Berko (USA)
Ruth Bernhard (USA)
Ilse Bing (USA)
Brassai (France/Hungary)
Esther Bubley (USA)
Michael Butler (USA)
Keith Carter (USA)
Bruce Davidson (USA)
Heather Dinas (Australia)
Robert Doisneau (France)
Natan Dvir (Israel)
Max de Esteban (Spain)
James Fee (USA)
Adrián Fernández (Cuba)
Lucas Foglia (USA)
Jarmír Funke (Czech Republic)
Ralph Gibson (USA)
Andrew Glickman (USA)
Fritz Henle (USA)
Jeff rey Hoone (USA)
Christopher Hooper (USA)
Carl Austin Hyatt (USA)
Kenro Izu (USA)
Hana Jakrlova (Czech Republic)
Simen Johan (Norway)
Thomas Kellner (Germany)
Michael Kenna (UK/USA)
Ferne Koch (USA)
Sylwia Kowalczyk (Poland)
Helen Levitt (USA)
Susan Lipper (USA)
Dina Litovsky (USA)
Igor Malijevsky (Czech Republic)
Sally Mann (USA)
Rania Matar (USA)
Monika Merva (USA)
Jean Miele (USA)
Abelardo Morell (USA/Cuba)
Luisa Menazzi Moretti (USA/Italy)
Dorothy Norman (USA)
Luis Gonzales Palma (Guatemala)
Liliana Porter (Argentina)
William Ropp (France)
Walter Rosenblum (USA)
Sanford Roth (USA)
Erich Salomon (Germany)
Toshio Shibata (Japan)
Evžen Sobek (Czech Republic)
Vee Speers (Australia/France)
Stephen Szabo (USA)
Fannie Tapper (USA)
Cecelia Webber (USA)
Weegee (USA)
William Wegman (USA)
Frank Yamrus (USA)
James Edward Maloney is a former member of the Boards of
Directors of both FotoFest and the Houston Center for Photography, and the former President of FotoFest’s Board. Jim is a long-time supporter of, and current Trustee of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), its Photography
Department, and its renowned Gus and Lyndall Wortham Curator of Photography, Anne Wilkes Tucker. Mr. Maloney has donated a number of important prints to the museum’s collection and was an underwriter of the museum’s landmark WAR/PHOTOGRAPHY exhibition in 2012.
COLLECTOR’S EYE: THE MALONEY COLLECTION EXHIBITION SPONSORS
Carola and John Herrin, Gregory and Lisa Spier, Anne Wilkes Tucker
FOTOFEST 2014-2015 EXHIBITION PROGRAM SPONSORS
Houston Endowment Inc; City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance; National Endowment for the Arts; Brown Foundation, Inc.; The Wortham Foundation; The Cullen Foundation; FotoFest Board of Directors; Judith and Gamble Baldwin; Texas Commission on the Arts; Houston Public Media; HexaGroup; iLand Internet Solutions; Silver Street Studios; and Weingarten Realty
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