International Center of Photography Launched New Home at Essex Crossing with Four Exhibitions on January 25, 2020

The International Center of Photography (ICP) launched its new integrated center on Manhattan’s Lower East Side at 79 Essex Street. ICP’s new space reunites its school and museum, creating an engaging space to explore how images shape our understanding of the world. The Center features exhibition galleries, media labs, classrooms, darkrooms, an equipment room, and shooting studios, as well as an extensive research library, a shop, café, and public event spaces. The four opening exhibitions are: CONTACT HIGH: A Visual History of Hip-Hop, Tyler Mitchell: I Can Make You Feel Good, James Coupe: Warriors and The Lower East Side: Selections from the ICP Collection

“ICP is entering an exciting new era as we launch our new integrated center and reunify our school and museum. We look forward to welcoming our Lower East Side neighbors and photography lovers from all over the world,” said Mark Lubell, ICP’s Executive Director. “We encourage everyone to experience all ICP has to offer, including our world-class exhibitions, our education programs at every level, our thought-provoking public programs, and activities for photo enthusiasts and families.”

CONTACT HIGH: A Visual History of Hip-Hop—a behind-the-scenes glimpse into how iconic portraits came to be through four decades of contact sheets from major photographers documenting the hip-hop movement.

CONTACT HIGH: A Visual History of Hip-Hop was curated by Vikki Tobak. 

Tyler Mitchell: I Can Make You Feel Good—the photographer and filmmaker’s first US solo exhibition and the US premiere of several photographs, video, and installation works exploring new ways of interpreting Black identity today.

Tyler Mitchell: I Can Make You Feel Good was curated by ICP’s new Curator-at-Large Isolde Brielmaier, PhD, with support from Assistant Curator Susan Carlson. 

James Coupe: Warriors—a new series of moving image works that algorithmically categorize museum visitors and, using deepfake technology, inserts them into specific scenes from the 1979 cult classic film The Warriors. 

James Coupe: Warriors was curated by Erin Barnett, Head of Exhibitions and Collections.

The Lower East Side: Selections from the ICP Collection—drawn from ICP’s rich holdings of mid-20th-century works, it examines the role of images in enduring narratives about the Lower East Side.

The Lower East Side: Selections from the ICP Collection was curated by Erin Barnett, Head of Exhibitions and Collections.