Elliott Landy: The Spirit of a Generation

June 29 – October 20, 2019 extended!!
Opening Reception & Gallery Talk: Saturday, June 29 at 4pm
Lecture by Elliott Landy: Saturday, October 19 at 3pm

Over 9,000 people visited the gallery to see this exhibition. Thank you!

The Center for Photography at Woodstock is pleased to announce the exhibition Elliott Landy: The Spirit of a Generation featuring Elliott Landy and his seminal photographs from the Woodstock Music Festival in 1969. As the official photographer of the festival, Landy documented the spirit of music, freedom and abandon that permeated the festival.

The exhibition was guest curated by Charles Guice. In addition to featuring Landy’s iconic photographs from the festival, the exhibition also showcases the political climate of the 1960s with photographs contrasting nationwide demonstrations for peace and abortion rights with the bucolic setting of musicians such as Bob Dylan and The Band, who had come to live in Woodstock.

The festival, which swelled from the anticipated 50,000 concertgoers to a record-setting 450,000, took place in Bethel, NY, on August 15-18, 1969 and drew iconic performers including Joan Baez, Richie Havens, the Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix, the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and The Band. Shooting 76 rolls of film, Landy captured the festival from the empty fields as the stage was being built to the unforgettable cultural spectacle that after 50 years still remains unmatched in its societal resonance and impact.

CURATOR’S STATEMENT BY CHARLES GUICE

Grace Slick was only twenty-nine, just shy of her thirtieth birthday, but she had already gained national prominence as the poster child for the ‘60s counterculture movement when she took the stage on that warm Sunday morning. As the lead vocalist of Jefferson Airplane, Slick, who embodied hedonism at her concerts with her short white miniskirts and her tousled permed hair, was one of the headliners performing there, but Elliott Landy — at the time prolific yet largely unknown — had actually photographed her before.

In less than two years, after shooting a magazine assignment of a young, blues-influenced singer, another for a band’s debut album, and then the front cover of a singer-songwriter at the height of his fame, Landy had already captured some of the greatest musicians of the decade, including Janis Joplin, the Band, Bob Dylan, Jefferson Airplane, and Jimi Hendrix. But it would be his now legendary photographs taken at the Woodstock Music Festival, three days billed as “an Aquarian exposition of Peace and Music” in August 1969, which would define Landy’s work for a generation.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Best known for his iconic rock photographs from the 1960s, ELLIOTT LANDY was one of the first music photographers to be recognized as an “artist”. His work has included portraits and album covers of Bob Dylan (Nashville Skyline), The Band (Music From Big Pink and The Band), Janis Joplin (Big Brother & The Holding Company and Cheap Thrills), Van Morrison (Moondance), as well as celebrated images of Joan Baez, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Richie Havens, and many other legendary bands, singers, and musicians. Landy’s photographs of Dylan and The Band during the years they resided and recorded in Woodstock, and his coverage of the 1969 Woodstock Music Festival, which he served as the festival’s official photographer, captured the attention of a new culture seeking spiritual and artistic freedom. Fifty years later, Landy’s seminal images have become synonymous with the town, the famed festival, and the utopian spirit of the Woodstock generation.

Since the 1960s, Elliott Landy’s photographs have been exhibited throughout the United States and abroad, including the Whitney Museum, the Tate Liverpool, and the Norton Museum of Art. His work has been published in countless American as well as international magazines and newspapers including The New York Times, Le Monde, Rolling Stone, Life, Vanity Fair, and the Saturday Evening Post. Landy is the author of eight books including Woodstock 1969: The First Festival, Dylan in Woodstock, and Woodstock Vision: The Spirit of a Generation. His latest monograph, The Band Photographs: 1968-1969, was published in 2015.

A native of New York, Landy was born in 1942. He graduated from the Bronx High School of Science and earned his degree from Baruch College. Represented worldwide by Magnum Photos, Getty, and several additional photo agencies, Landy lives in Woodstock with his wife, Lynda. https://elliottlandy.com/

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL

Fifty years ago, on August 15, 1969, the Woodstock Music & Art Fair opened on a 600-acre dairy farm in Bethel, New York. Advertised as “An Aquarian Exposition: 3 Days of Peace and Music,” the now iconic rock festival featured thirty-two performers — including Joan Baez, Richie Havens, the Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix, the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and The Band — who have gone on to become some of the most celebrated artists in American music history. Originally estimated for 50,000, despite large crowds, torrential rainstorms, and muddy fields, the festival eventually swelled to more than 450,000 people, an event which has become synonymous with the 60s counterculture movement.

“…You’ve proven something to the world… the important thing that you’ve proven to the world is that a half a million kids, and I call you kids because I have children who are older than you are, a half a million young people can get together and have three days of fun and music and have nothing but fun and music and God bless you for it!” — Max Yasgur, owner of the farm where the 1969 Woodstock festival was held

EXHIBITION SCHEDULE AND LOCATION

The solo exhibition Elliott Landy: The Spirit of a Generation is shown in conjunction with two other exhibitions, Woodstock Squared, an exhibition fundraiser featuring over 50 different artists, and Woodstock AIR: Altered, featuring artists who have participated in CPW’s artist-in-residence program. The exhibitions will be on view through October 20 (extended from September 2, 2019).

Special thanks to our exhibition sponsor Canson Infinity. CPW received additional exhibition support from the New York Council on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Art, the Warhol Foundation, Joy of Giving Something, our members and other supporters.

CPW galleries are free & open to the public, Thursday – Sunday, 12 noon – 5pm and by appointment. Please note that special hours apply during the holidays. Educational tours are available upon request. CPW is located at 59 Tinker Street, Woodstock, New York 12498. Visit Us

Image information:
(banner) Joe Cocker’s band (The Grease Band), Woodstock Festival, Bethel, NY, 1969.

All photos by ©Elliott Landy. None of these photographs are in the public domain. Please contact Elliott Landy Vision, Inc. for permission to reproduce any of the images.