About the event:

DARK is a solo exhibition of Mark S. Kornbluth’s photographs of Broadway theaters during the pandemic closure that will be on view to the public at Cavalier Galleries (530 W 24th St, New York, NY) through April 15, 2023.

In 2020 when Broadway stages went dark, New York City’s theater buildings lit up the quiet nights in a state of suspended animation. At the encouragement of a mentor, Kornbluth traded his 35 mm for a large format digital camera and began making pictures of as many theaters as possible. Access to one of the busiest places on earth was unprecedented, and he took dozens of images of each structure.

The series comprises large-format photographs of dozens of New York City theater exteriors, including the Ambassador, Barrymore, Booth, Eugene O’Neill, Imperial, Lunt Fontaine, Lyric, Music Box, New Victory, and Richard Rodgers theaters are featured, among others. Broadway shows captured in the historical moment include The Book of Mormon, Hamilton, Hangmen, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, The Inheritance, Moulin Rouge, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and TINA: The Tina Turner Musical

Artist Statement from Mark Kornbluth

Photographing people on location in New York City has called me ever since I first visited thirty years ago. The city became the main subject of my work in the Spring of 2020. My life is deeply tied to this city, Times Square and to Broadway. It started here, and I always return to this place; I did theatre professionally, and many of my close friends still do.

I started with the Broadway series, now titled DARK, with the intention to dramatize the language and narrative in the signage, contrasted with the stillness of the mise-en-scene. Despite the sudden and lasting emptiness that the pandemic gave rise to, I discovered a delightful tension, a sense of Broadway waiting for the promise and renewal that art invariably brings. I’m deeply curious about relationships between objects, how emotions are rooted in time and place, and how to create the power of a shared experience.

This exploration opened up a greater curiosity about the ways in which the city lived during and after a drought. Candida Höfer said “what people do in spaces – and what these spaces do to them – is clearer when no one is present, just as an absent guest is often the subject of a conversation.” So I am seeking to be everywhere where there is nobody. I was curious to see how the atmosphere of the city varies from neighborhood to neighborhood, and why. Thomas Struth said ‘The urban structure is an accretion of so many decisions.’ Finding empty streets allows me to explore these questions.