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Robert Cumming, a pioneering wizard of West Coast photo-conceptualism, achieved brief semi-stardom in the 1980s. On the cover of his first self-published book of photographs, “Picture Fictions,” was a work that would become one of his most famous, “Watermelon/Bread.” In it, the titular fruit rests on a patterned plate in a cluttered kitchen. “The scene would be ordinary enough if not for the flank of the watermelon, into which Cumming has nestled a slice of store-bought white bread like some absurdist domestic Excalibur,” Chris Wiley writes. “The picture became something of an aesthetic calling card, encapsulating his work’s goofy rigor and strange cool. His creations seemed to invite the question, ‘What kind of person would bother to make such things?’ ” Tap the link in our bio to read about the thoroughly unpretentious photographer, who is experiencing a much deserved mini-revival. Photographs by Robert Cumming / © 2024 @the_robert_cumming_archive / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

February 11, 2024