Grant Mudford | Australian, 1944 -
In An American Century of Photography, Keith Davis refers to the Los Angeles based photographer’s work as; “An appreciation for both the alienations and incongruities of the urban landscape”. This investigation of the psychology of place is complimented by Mudford's keen observations on pictorial space and the inherent formal characteristics of his medium. He reveals the architectural subject as it relates to what surrounds it within the balance of his camera’s frame.
His large-scale, brilliantly rich black and white prints exhibit microscopic sharpness that render both the subject and the light that shapes its form with astonishing exactitude and beauty.
Mudford’s photographs have been exhibited internationally in both solo and group exhibitions since the mid 1970’s; beginning this history with a solo show at the notable Light Gallery.
His photographs are within numerous private and public collections including: The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The J. Paul Getty Museum, The Museum of Modern Art, The George Eastman House, The Nelson-Atkins Museum and The National Museum of American Art.
Biography
| 1944 | Born, Sydney, Australia |
| 1963 - 1964 | Studied architecture, University of New South Wales, Sydney. |
| 1965 - 1974 | Worked from own commercial photography studio in Sydney: advertising, fashion, magazine editorial and theater; worked on numerous short films as cinematographer. |
| 1974 - 1977 | Visual Arts Board Travel Grants, Australia Council for the Arts; program of intensive travel and work in The United States. Moved to Los Angeles. |
| 1980 | Photographers' Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts. |
| 1983 | Editorial assignments for American and international publications in the U.S. and abroad, including Harper's Bazaar, Esquire, Fortune, Westways, House and Garden, Architectural Digest, Interiors, Vanity Fair, Architectural Record, Progressive Architecture, Traveler, L.A. Style, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Architecture, Los Angeles Magazine, Travel & Leisure, Interview. |
| 1990 - 1991 | Photographed extensively throughout the U.S. for architecture exhibition, Louis I. Kahn, organized by The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. |
| 1991 - 1992 | Photographs featured in exhibition "Louis I. Kahn: In the Realm of Architecture," organized by The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; traveled to Philadelphia Museum of Art; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris; The Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Museum of Modern Art, Gunma Japan; The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, TX; Wexner Center for the Arts, Columbus, OH. |
| 2005 | Photograph by Mudford of Philips Exeter Academy Library, designed by Louis I. Kahn, selected for commemorative USPS Stamp Program. |
Solo Exhibitions
| 1972 | Bonython Gallery, Sydney Australia. |
| 1976 - 1977 | Light Gallery, New York. |
| 1977 | Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney, Australia. Powell Street Gallery, Melbourne, Australia. Photographers’ Gallery, London. Light Gallery, New York. |
| 1979 | Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., catalogue. Diane Brown Gallery, Washington, D.C. Rosamund Felsen Gallery, Los Angeles. |
| 1983 | Rosamund Felsen Gallery, Los Angeles. |
| 1984 | UCLA Graduate School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Los Angeles. "Project No. 46: Grant Mudford," Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. |
| 1985 | Christine Abrahams Gallery, Melbourne, Australia. Roslyn Oxley 9, Sydney, Australia. |
| 1986 | Rosamund Felsen Gallery, Los Angeles. Macquarie Galleries, Sydney, Australia. Christine Abrahams Gallery, Melbourne, Australia. Michael Milburn Gallery, Brisbane, Australia. Gallery Min, Tokyo, Japan, catalogue, essay by Mark Johnstone. |
| 1987 | Macquarie Galleries, Sydney, Australia. Christine Abrahams Gallery, Melbourne, Australia. |
| 1989 | Barbara Mann Performing Arts Hall, Edison College, Ft. Myers, FL, curated by Robert Rauschenberg. "The Urban Monument: The Photographs of Grant Mudford," Southern California. Institute of Architecture (SCI-ARC), Santa Monica. "15 Portraits: Photographs," Rosamund Felsen Gallery, Los Angeles. |
| 1993 | Rosamund Felsen Gallery, Los Angeles. |
| 1998 | Rosamund Felsen Gallery, Santa Monica. |
| 2002 | Kidder Smith Gallery, Boston. “Walt Disney Concert Hall, Under Construction,” Rosamund Felsen Gallery, Santa Monica. |
| 2003 | “Walt Disney Concert Hall, Completed,” Rosamund Felsen Gallery, Santa Monica. |
| 2004 | “The Shiva Paint Tubs,” Rosamund Felsen Gallery, Santa Monica. |
| 2011 | Rosamund Felsen Gallery, Santa Monica. |
Collections
Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney, Australia National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia. Phillip Morris Collection, Melbourne, Australia.
Art Gallery of Tasmania, Hobart, Australia.
Australian National Gallery, Canberra, Australia. Horsham Art Gallery, Victoria, Australia.
Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia. Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Library of Congress, Washington D.C.
International Museum of Photography, George Eastman House, Rochester, NY. The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
University of Louisville, Louisville, KY.
University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa.
Joseph Monson Collection, Seattle, WA.
Security Pacific Bank, Los Angeles.
Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris.
Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
Power Collection, Sydney University, Sydney, Australia.
CSR Collection, Sydney, Australia.
Henry V. Heuser, Jr. Collection, Louisville, KY.
Standard Brands Paint Co., Torrance, CA.
National Museum of American Art, Washington, D.C.
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher Art Collection, Los Angeles.
Gelco Corporation, Eden Prairie, MN.
Frito-Lay, Inc., Plano, TX.
Consolidated Freightways, Menlo Park, CA.
The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles.
The Hallmark Collection, New York.
The Art Museum, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ.
The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles.
Nora Eccles Harrison Museum of Art, Utah State University, Logan.
Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA.