Exhibition shown May 27, 2021 — September 26, 2021, in Green Library 

Stanford Libraries presents Between: Artist Books, Albums, and Portfolios from the Mark Ruwedel Photography Archive at Stanford, on view May 27, 2021, through September 26, 2021, in the Peterson Gallery and Munger Rotunda, Green Library Bing Wing. The exhibition celebrates the Mark Ruwedel Photography Archive, recently acquired by Stanford Libraries’ Special Collections.

Although known primarily as a Western landscape photographer, Ruwedel has acknowledged a highly varied range of artistic influences from such crucial 19th-century photographers as Carleton Watkins (held in-depth by Stanford Libraries Special Collections) and William Henry Jackson, the 1970s New Topographics photographers such as Lewis Baltz and Robert Adams, Earthworks artists such as Robert Smithson and Michael Heizer, the conceptual works of Richard Long, even the Surrealists Man Ray, and Andre Breton. Ruwedel has acknowledged that he fits somewhere “in between” a host of sometimes competing, sometimes complementary inspirations. Consequently, his work is of particular value within a teaching institution such as Stanford University, providing multiple opportunities to investigate diverse aspects of 19th, 20th, and 21st-century art and photographic practices. 

 Part of the Ruwedel archive project is creating a catalogue raisonné of Ruwedel’s artists’ books, albums, and portfolios. The exhibition placed these smaller, more approachable objects in direct conversations with related materials from the Libraries, including Andre Breton’s Nadja, Carleton Watkins’s mammoth albumen plates, and artist books by Edward Ruscha’s, Gordon Matta-Clark, Man Ray, and many other works.

In conjunction with the exhibition’s opening, a virtual event: In-Conversation: The Mark Ruwedel Photography Archive at Stanford, was hosted by the Department of Special Collections and Stanford Libraries and occurred online on May 27th, 2021, from 2:30 pm - 4:00 pm.

The exhibition Between was the joint effort of Peter Blank and Deardra Fuzzell. Many people worked tirelessly to make this exhibition possible. First and foremost, we wish to thank Mark Ruwedel for entrusting Stanford Libraries with his archive. David Knaus guided the archive to us, Peter Barbur and Tim Doody generously supported the acquisition, and Richard Morehouse secured the archive for Stanford. Tiffany Phelan’s work in organizing the collection before is arrival at Stanford has proved invaluable. We also wish to acknowledge the following people for their support: Michael Keller, Roberto Trujillo, Matt Marostica, Astrid Smith, Wayne Vanderkuil, Glynn Edwards, Ann Meyers, Brian Bethel, Roy Viado, Lorna Corbetta, and Meagan Trott. Deardra Fuzzell managed the production, design, and installation of the exhibition. Pasha Tope artfully co-designed the banners and keepsake. Mark Ruwedel was consulted throughout the process of image selection, writing, printing, design, and installation work; for this, we thank him profusely.

NOTE: In addition to the physical exhibition, there is a forthcoming online exhibition and print catalog; stay tuned to the Publications page for updates.

Between was on display in the Peterson Gallery and Munger Rotunda exhibit cases from May 27, 2021 – September 26, 2021.