Michael Snow | Life Survey (1955-2020)

Flash! 20:49 15/6/2001, 2001. Laminated color photograph, 48 x 72 inches. © Michael Snow, Courtesy of Jack Shainman Gallery

Written by Nicole Miller

Michael Snow’s artistic brilliance is celebrated in Life Survey (1955-2020), an exhibition highlighting his career working across various mediums as a painter, photographer, sculptor, musician, author, and filmmaker. Wearing these many creative hats, Snow explored how these disciplines inform one another, challenging conventional genres and establishing himself within the avant-garde movement of the twentieth century. Experimentation was essential to Snow’s identity as an artist, as he constantly re-interpreted his practice, playfully producing iterations of a single image through different materials to convey new meanings. This process is especially apparent in Snow’s iconic series, Walking Woman, a trademark of his popularized in the 1960s. The Walking Woman silhouette began as a five-foot cardboard cutout in the shape of a woman in forward motion, arms swinging. Over time, Snow presented this woman in various forms, altering her dimensions, shape, position, color, and material. He even carried a life-size version of her to photograph around New York City.

Little Walk, 1964-2005. DVD, Plywood cut out figure. Duration: 12 minutes, 24 seconds, looped. Cut out figure: 66 1/2 x 16 x 14 1/2 inches. © Michael Snow, Courtesy of Jack Shainman Gallery

Pictured above are shots from Snow’s first gallery film installation, “Little Walk” (1964). In this innovative, live-action 12’’ silent loop, Snow, regarding Pop art, reproduced the figure of the walking woman. He projected the physical forms of other Walking Woman works onto a free-standing, white Walking Woman cutout. The moving image creates a dynamic experience for the audience, who reflects on the nature of art as their perception is physically distorted by Snow’s experimentation with dimensions and medium.

In the Blue, 1966. Acrylic on printed paper, 16 1/2 x 23 inches. © Michael Snow, Courtesy of Jack Shainman Gallery

As Snow employed a range of media, the Walking Woman series continued to evolve throughout the 1960s. He was famously quoted in the 1967 exhibition catalog, Statements/18 Canadian Artists, explaining his unwillingness to categorize himself. “I am not a professional. My paintings are done by a filmmaker, sculptures by a musician, films by a painter, music by a filmmaker, paintings by a sculptor, sculpture by a filmmaker, films by a musician, music by sculptors, sometimes they all work together. Also, many of my paintings have been done by a painter, sculpture by a sculptor, films by a filmmaker, music by a musician.” Snow’s myriad of identities allowed him the freedom to study not only the representation of a woman walking but also to work with his very own template for artistic invention, permitting him to devise his own rules and methods.

Wavelength, 1967. 16mm film (with digital Betacam copy available) 45 minutes with sound. © Michael Snow, Courtesy of Jack Shainman Gallery

Despite Walking Woman’s renowned recognition, Snow’s most defining career project is his groundbreaking 1967 film, Wavelength. The film is widely regarded as a milestone in international avant-garde cinema, establishing Snow as a visionary of the Structural Film movement. The 43-minute film was recorded inside a New York City apartment featuring four sequences of people with nonlinear narratives. The camera, accepted as the main character, zooms in and out, emphasizing various angles of the room, yet remains relatively impartial to the unfolding events, generating a controversial reception. Although direct in its experimental cinematic approach, the work is challenging to process, forcing audiences to rethink the very definition of art. Michael Snow changed the landscape of twentieth-century art, reexamining the boundaries of perspective and expression and revolutionizing the relationships between diverse artistic disciplines.

Over the Sofa, 1992-96. Acrylic on canvas with color photo, 36 x 48 inches. © Michael Snow, Courtesy of Jack Shainman Gallery