Barbara G. Mensch 274 Water Street 5R New York, New York 10038
menschphoto@gmail.com cell: 646-321-9672 www.menschphoto.com
Selected Exhibitions
2014 “Coney Island” curated by Robin Jaffee Frank Wadsworth Atheneum Museum
of Art ( upcoming )
2014 Faculty Exhibition International Center of Photography New York, N.Y.
2014 “Landmarks of New York” Brooklyn Historical Society Brooklyn, NY
2013 “If These Knishes Could Talk” Documentary Film starring Penny Marshall,
Pete Hamill, Alan Dershowitz, Charles Rangel, others. Directed by Heather
Quinlan, Barbara Mensch, Associate Producer. A Canvas Back Production.
2013 “NFS and Tanam Press Exhibition of Publications” 1970’s-1980’s , Printed
Matter, N.Y.C.
2013 “Peace Art” 2013 Yokohama City Center, Japan. Friends Without Borders
( sponsors)
2012 “Landmarks of New York” Parrish Art Museum, South Hampton, N.Y
2012 “Landmarks of New York” Long Island Museum, Stonybrook, N.Y.
2012 “Barbara Mensch New York Photographs” curated by Bonnie Yochelson with
catalogue. Robert Anderson Gallery, New York. (solo)
2011 “Mirrors and Reflections” curated by Evelyne Daitz Robert Anderson Gallery
2010 “Red Room” gallery artists Bonni Benrubi Gallery
2010 “Instant Joy Polaroids” including William Wegman, Chuck Close, Ellen Carey
and others. AM Richards Fine Art, Williamsburg Brooklyn.
2009 “South Street” Harbor Works Gallery/ Bowdoin College, Maine ( solo)
2009 “Coney Island” AM Richards Fine Art Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
2009 “Personal Favorites”: Ruth Orkin, Robert Capa, Marc Riboud, Arthur Leipzig,
Barbara Mensch / Flo Peters Gallery, Hamburg, Germany.
2009 “Hot Fun In The Summertime” Bonni Benrubi Gallery, New York.
2009 “Group Show gallery artists” Gallerie Art- Privat, Kassel Germany
2009 “South Street” (Tom Mellins, special projects curator The Museum of The City
of New York year long extended exhibition at the South Street Seaport
Museum. ( solo )
2008 “Focus On The Seaport w/catalogue, New York Center For Architecture
2007 “Portraits of the Men of the Market” PhotoGraphic Gallery, New York( solo)
2007 “New York Some Kind Of Paradise” Bonni Benrubi Gallery( solo)
2006 “20/30 Vision: an Anniversary Exhibition” Bonni Benrubi Gallery, NewYork
2005 “By The Gladness Of The River” Photographic survey of downtown New York
artists from the mid 1950's to present. Curated by Harold Reed. Seaport
Museum, New York.
2004 “Crime Scene”: Stephen Bulger Gallery Toronto, Canada.
2004 “57 on 57th”, Bonni Benrubi Gallery, New York City.
2004 “Republican Descent” Beacon Photography Gallery, New York.( solo)
2004 “Seaport Museum New Wing Schermerhorn Row”. Year long installation of
large scale prints depicting the Brooklyn Bridge/East River in conjunction
with Beyer Blinder Bell Architects. N.Y.( solo)
2003 “Here Is New York: A Democracy of Photographs”, Prince Street Gallery, New
York curated by Charles Traub
2003 “City Images Projects Wall” Bonni Benrubi Gallery (solo)
2002 “Peace Art” commissioned by Friends Without Borders, international
traveling exhibition.
2001 “Star Spangled Spirit” Bonni Benrubi Gallery, New York.
1999 “The Brooklyn Bridge” Afterimage Gallery, Dallas, Texas. Group show
including Alfred Eisenstadt, Karl Struss, and Walker Evans curated by Ben
Breard.
1999 “Landmarks Of New York III,” Biblioteque' Nationale, Paris, France.
1999 “Somehow Cinematic” Photo Art/Book Art Gallery, Yale University, New
Haven.
1999 “Visible Traces” Winter Art Gallery, Houston, Texas in conjunction with
FotoFest.( solo)
1998 “Souvenir Souvenir” (To Remember) Black and White images from journey
through EasternEurope. Exhibited at the KunstBalkon/Dokumenta x Festival
in Kassel, Germany. Funded by a special grant from the Kassel Minister of
Art and Culture ( solo)
1998 “Footpath Mosaics” Vogelfrei Art Festival, w/catalogue, Darmstadt, Germany
Modular photographs installed on the ground.
1995 “Photographs from the Permanent Collection” Museum of Contemporary Art,
Mexico City w/catalogue curated by Manuel Alvarez Bravo.
1994 “Landmarks Of New York” edited by Eric Himmel. First exhibited in New York
as part of a traveling exhibition to Forbes Gallery NY, Grand Central Station,
and The Uris Gallery at The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
1993 “Startling Developments” Black and White photographs installed with waxed
surfaces. Foster Goldstrom Gallery NYC. ( solo)
1992-1998 Various group exhibitions Foster Goldstrom Gallery NYC
1992 “Leica Presents Six American Photographers at Photokina”, Cologne,
Germany.
1985 “The Last Waterfront” The Museum of The City of New York. Curated by
Stephen Hyde Miller.
1985 “The South Street Survey” Barbara Mensch Andrew Moore The Municipal Art Society curated by Elliot Willensky, AIA .
1983 “Photography In Diversity” Lowe Gallery, Syracuse University, New York.
1982 “New Landscapes” The Friends of Photography, Carmel, California.
1982 “Alternative Visions” Santa Fe Gallery of Photography, New Mexico curated
by Shelley Rice.
1982 “Themes In Contemporary Women's Photography” presented at the Yale
University Art Museum, Rutgers University New Jersey, Franklin Furnace New
York City, and other venues. Curated by Shelley Rice
1982 “Twelve Views Of A Pregnancy” installation of photographs on walls and
tables at P.S.1 Long Island City, New York.
1981 “Surveys in American Technology” Color Polaroid Images of industrial
landscapes. The Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art, curated by
Robert Smith.
1981 “Location: South Central Avenue Los Angeles” “Location Sonoma Grove”. The
Kitchen, New York City. Slide tape presentation curated by Robert Longo and
Eric Bogosian. Also presented at The Franklin Furnace NYC, Wright State
University, Dayton Ohio, and San Francisco Art Institute.
Recent Lectures and Events
2013-2014 ICP ( International Center Of Photography) instructor
2012 ICP New York Street Stories Barbara Mensch, Gus Powell, Jules Allen, Harvey
Stein, Angel Franco. International Center Of Photography spring lecture
series.
2009-20013 Book signings and lectures South Street by Barbara Mensch McNally
Jackson Books, Soho, New York Midtown Library 42nd Street, Bowdoin
College, Maine, Fordham University, continuing many other venues.
2008 Photographing the Waterfront : “Recollections” The Moth Storytelling
Performance Hour live with radio broadcast.
Selected Recent Print Reviews/ Electronic Reviews and Blogs
Aperture Magazine “Recent Aquisitions Column” Winter issue 2014
Bartolot, Lana “Using Film In a Digital Age”
The Wall Street Journal, February 2012
Bertolot, Lana “Tracing New York’s Mosaics of Accents”
Wall Street Journal, August 12, 2011.
Dunlap, David “Losing A Precious Sliver of East River Sky”
New York Times , April 2012
Dykstra, Jean Review of “Barbara Mensch at Robert Anderson Gallery”
Photograph Magazine, March 2012
Shutz, Lacy “Highlights from the Collection of The Museum of the City Of New York“
Huffington Post blog, February, 2012
Goselin, Claire "Focus On Photography"
The Times Record (Brunswick Maine), August 2009.
Keyes, Bob "New Gallery's Art Mirrors a Village Come Back to Life"
Maine Sunday Telegram, July 5, 2009.
“Barbara Mensch, Coney Island Images”, Art Slant July 2009.
Radcliffe, Melissa "South Street" Exposure Magazine Vol 42:1 Spring, 2009.
Yochelson, Bonnie "Emily's Bridge" review of Mensch images of Brooklyn Bridge
New York Times, January 4, 2009.
Chan, Sewell, "Loaders, Lumpers and The Smell of Fish" The New York Times, April
28, 2008.
"Sunday Arts News” WNET 13 / PBS exhibition review, August 10, 2008.
Roberts, Sam " The Reading Room " Review of publication South Street
The New York Times, May 27, 2007
O'Sullivan, Shawn "Spotlight" B & W Magazine issue # 55 winter 2007
Miller, Michael, "South Street" New York Book of the Month
Time Out New York, April 2007.
O'Sullivan Shawn "The Printed Page"
B &W Magazine /issue #57 pg. 120, Summer 2007.
Potter, Jessica, "South Street" book review.
TakeGreatPictures.com., August 28, 2007.
"The Market Told Its Own Story" The Chronicle Review, August 10, 2007 pgs
1,4,5.
"Artnet News",January 17, 2006 (artnetnews.com).
"The Men and the Market" photos and text by Barbara Mensch
(special pull out section) Tribeca Trib, pgs 19-29, February 2006.
"The City” Shots Magazine, Winter issue 2005, (cover photograph ) volume 90 pgs
1,2,3.
Barry, Dan "About New York"
The New York Times, Saturday April 3, 2004.
"On the Waterfront, Fish Guts, Feds and The Mafia"
AG Magazine of British Photography, Spring Issue # 47, 2007.
Begley, Adam "Tip Sheet On Current Reading"
The New York Observer, May 14, 2007.
"Photographing The Fish Market of the Early 80's " Gothamist August 26, 2007.
Mensch, Barbara "The Hidden Bridge"
Metropolis Magazine, Spring 2000 pgs 80-84 photographs and text .
Fodor, Joe "What's Holding Up the Bridge?" photographs by Barbara Mensch
Brooklyn Bridge Magazine, March pgs 58-63 1999.
"Unter dem Kirschbaum flustern die Engel". Photograph and review of Mensch
images at Vogelfrei Art Festival. Darmstadter Echo seite (pg) 17 July 1997.
Kinney, Kay "Startling Developments" review of exhibition. Cover Magazine
February 1993.
"Current Picks" "Startling Developments"
Village Voice centerfold p.77 December, 1992.
Finch, Charles, WBAI Radio "Art Breaking with Charlie Finch"
interview, December, 1992.
Ehrlanger, Steven "Fish Market Shrugs off Assertion of Mob Links"
The New York Times, Metro Oct.16, 1987 pgs. 32-33.
Bernard, April "The South Street Story" Manhattan Inc. Magazine pgs. 120-121
March, 1985.
Trebay, Guy "Waterside". photographs by Sylvia Plachy. Interview with Ms. Mensch
and photographs of her at work on location at the waterfront.
Village Voice April 1985.
Selected Early Reviews
American Library Association (Booklist) review of The Last Waterfront 1986.
Collins Pat, "Everything Else" Interview about The Last Waterfront.
WNYC TV January 1986.
Talmer, Jerry "Fotog Hauls In Fish Market Macho"
The New York Post March 29, 1986.
Forbes, Malcolm “The Last Waterfront Book review” in
Forbes Magazine, September 1985.
"Review of The Last Waterfront exhibition at Museum Of The City Of New York "
Journal Of The Print World Spring edition, May 1985.
Featured photograph Arts and Leisure Section "Vinny A Fillet Man"
New York Times pg. 26, October 24, 1983
"Voice Choices" The Village Voice 1982
Silverman, Jill, "Downtown Artists" Downtown (a publication of the Lower
Manhattan Cultural Council) page 1. cover article 1982 vol. 5 no. 9.
"Voice Choices" The Village Voice January, 1981.
"Alternative Visions" Afterimage Magazine page 12, 1981.
Rice, Shelley, “Review of Barbara Mensch at P.S.1 exhibition” The Soho News 1981
Selected Bibliography
Artists For Artists : Fifty Years Of The Foundation For Contemporary Arts pub date
2013 photographs throughout publication
Art of The Brooklyn Bridge by Richard Haw Routledge Press 2008 pg 244
"A View From The Bridge" by Arthur Miller, starring Christopher Maloney. Gates
Theatre Dublin, Ireland. (cover image Playbill) "Brooklyn Bridge # 1" 2005 by
Barbara Mensch.
Barbara Mensch New York Photographs catalogue by Bonnie Yochelson. Produced
in conjunction with the Robert Anderson Gallery, N.Y. 2012
Barbary Shore by Norman Mailer (cover photo Brooklyn Bridge# 1 by Barbara
Mensch) Baldini Castoldi Dalai Editore. Milano, Italy. December 2010.
Cityscapes: A History of New York In Images edited by Debra Dash Moore.
Columbia University Press 2002, photographs throughout publication.
Developer Trays John Cyr Powerhouse Books 2014
Everybody Knows BW photographs by Barbara Mensch for documentary film about
painter Elizabeth Murray. Kristen Zea Director (In production) 2014
Here Is New York A Democracy of Photographs Scalo Editions 2002 pgs 226 -7.
Landmarks of New York first published by Abrams 1987. Sixth printing
republished 2008 by Monacelli Press and edited by Barbara Lee Diamondstein.
Many selections throughout publication.
Little Devils edited by Marla Hamburg Kennedy. Picture This Publications
distributed by DAP 1997, pgs 49, 89.
Luiz y Tempo Publication of the Museum of Art Contemporareo, Mexico City
1995.Volume 2
Photography: The Problematic Model NFS press edited by Lew Thomas and Peter
D'Agostino. 1982.
Punching Out- One Year In A Closing Auto Plant author Paul Clemens. Random
House 2012 commentary on South Street pgs 175 176
September 11th archive at ICP from Scalo editions
Soho by Richard Kostelanetz, Routledge Press 2002. Survey of selected artists
living in New York's Soho district.
South Street by Barbara Mensch (paperback), Columbia University Press: December
2009.
South Street by Barbara Mensch introduction by Phillip Lopate. Columbia University
Press (hardcover) published May 2007.
Special projects chronicles of P.S. 1 exhibitions from 1976 to present MOMA P.S. 1
archives
The Last Waterfront by Barbara Mensch, 1985 published by Scribners/Freundlich.
The Norton Mix : American History Dunn-Haley authors WWNorton pub date spring
2013 selected photographs
The Shadow of The Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafron. Penguin Press. Cover photo
"Klebber's Murder" by Barbara Mensch. New York Times Best Seller (in hardcover,
paperback and audio CD) first published in 2005.
Waterfront: A Journey Around Manhattan by Phillip Lopate. Crown Publishing 2004.
Hardcover and paperback Chapter 19. (Photograph "Klebbers Murder" appears on
acknowledgements page).
Selected Collections
The Agnes Gund Collection
Sir Elton John Collection
Museum of Fine Arts Houston
Museum of the City of New York
The Brooklyn Museum
The New York Historical Society
The Biblioteque Nationale
Collecion Fotografica de Fundacion Televisia, Mexico City
purchase by Manuel Alvarez Bravo
The Seaport Museum
The Bawag Foundation, Vienna, Austria
Davis Wright Tremaine LLP N.Y.
Pfizer
Holland & Knight LLP. NY
Goldman Sachs
Radical Media Productions, N.Y.
New Amsterdam Market, N.Y.
Bank of America
Selected Private collections
Adam Posard AIA Posard Broek and Associates, San Anselmo, California
Stephan Braunfels Munich/ Berlin Architekten
Victor and Sara Kovner
Robert Anderson, Denver Co.
Evelyne Daitz/ The Witkin Gallery NY
Flo Peters/ The Flo Peters Gallery Hamburg, Germany
The Handwerker family /Nathan’s Famous Worldwide
Bonnie Yochelson art historian
Phillip Lopate, author
Patrick and Bernadette Hitt Merril Lynch/ Tiffanys
April Bloomfield celebrity chef
Photographic Fairs and Benefit Auctions
Friends Without A Border / annual contributor to photo auction
Aperture November 2013 benefit auction
AIPAD N.Y. 2001- 2009
Friends Of The Highline Benefit Auctions 2008- 2009
Paris Photo 2003-2007
AAF ( Affordable Art Fair ) NYC 1994- 1996
Frankfurt Art Fair 1993-1994-1995
Photokina, Colgne, Germany 1993
Recent Grants/ Awards
The Book Binders Guild Merit Award / Photography "South Street" 2007
Lucie/IPA book award "South Street " 2007
Lower Manhattan Cultural Council MCAF grant 2007
Furthermore Foundation grant for publication "South Street" 2007
Early Awards
Leica Camera, Germany 1993 "Children of U Street, Washington D.C." Kodachrome
portrait selections
JM Kaplan Foundation 1985
The Charina Foundation 1985
New York State Council on the Arts 1985
Representation
Bonni Benrubi Gallery
2000- 2012