Take Ninagawa Presents Works by Man Ray
While globally renowned as a pioneer of Dada and Surrealist photography, Man Ray’s creative universe extended far beyond the darkroom into sculpture, painting and found objects. Take Ninagawa highlights this multidimensional practice with a solo exhibition that centers on one of the artist’s most enduring obsessions: the game of chess. Building on recent global retrospectives like the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s 2025–26 showcase, this exhibition explores how chess served not just as a thematic subject, but as a dynamic structural framework for his art — a site where logic, strategy, chance and desire collide.
The show gathers a captivating mix of rayographs, paintings and sculptures, anchored by rare, interactive pieces. Highlight works include “Giant Chess Set” (1961), a fully playable monumental sculpture used by Man Ray himself, and “Permanent Attraction” (1948/71), which dramatically scales up wooden chess pieces over a standard board. Together, the collection offers an intriguing look at an iconic artist who treated art-making like a grand, unpredictable game of moves and feints.
