Coney Island
Artist
Judy Linn
(American, born 1947)
Date1997
Mediumgelatin silver print
DimensionsImage: 20 5/8 × 14 inches (52.4 × 35.6 cm)
Credit LineGift of Helen Levitt.
Object number1998.15
On View
Not on view
See Also - Artist/Same Artist
Copyright© Judy Linn.
The images and text contained on this page are owned by Telfair Museums or used by the Museum with permission from the owners. Unauthorized reproduction, transmission or display of these materials is prohibited with the exception of items deemed “fair use” as defined by U.S. and international copyright laws.Label TextWith a singular visual approach, Detroit-born photographer Judy Linn documents the social landscape of the U.S. When Linn moved to New York in the mid-1960s, she became friends with Patti Smith (b. 1946) and Robert Mapplethorpe (1946–1989), two young and emerging artists living at the creative hub of the Chelsea Hotel. Linn took many iconic portraits of the partners, documenting a distinct moment in American culture. Her continued and varied practice defies categorization as she tries “to shed the words in my head and openly respond to a visual world” through wit, juxtaposition, isolation, and a minimalist sensibility. This poetic style can be seen in Coney Island, showing two women practicing yoga on the Brooklyn beach. The vertical composition awash in gray emphasizes the upright forms of the women, their prayer hands reaching for the horizon line underneath the expanse of hazy sky.