Exhibition - Los Angeles
RFK Funeral Train
On
a Saturday afternoon on June 8, 1968,
Magnum photographer Paul Fusco accompanied the body of Robert F.
Kennedy as it made its way from New
York City to its final resting place in Arlington Cemetery, near
Washington, D.C. Transported by train, the coffin
was placed in the last of twenty-two cars and elevated so that it was
visible through the large observation
windows. However, it was what lay outside the train that interested
Fusco most: the track-side mourners who—
silent, curious and patient—waited to pay their respects.
“They were mostly
ordinary Americans: young parents, retirees, nuns, men in suits,
teenagers in shorts. Some
waved happily. Others wailed in grief. Some stood quietly, hand to
heart. Others snapped pictures. Some looked
plainly curious. Others hoisted placards of farewell. Some brought
flowers, many only themselves. Boy Scouts
waved the Stars and Stripes. A woman knelt, her hands touching in
prayer.” (Margarett Loke, New York Times)
A uniquely profound record,
RFK FUNERAL TRAIN is an oblique chronicle of the tragedy and trauma of
Robert F.
Kennedy's assassination. In tribute to RFK's raw empathy and his
determination to make lives better across the
social spectrum, hundreds of thousands of people stood patiently in the
searing heat to pay their respects. It was
one of those rare instance during the Civil Rights era that showed a
nation coming together, when both black and
white shared a respect for a leader whom they believed could have
healed the country's wounds.
In vivid color, Fusco's study
provides a unique exploration of a nation coming to terms with the loss
of a president
who never was. It presents a snapshot of a broad range of American
citizens and conveys the depth of civic
feeling engendered by the tragedy. With their strange blend of
valediction and voyeurism, these pictures capture
a decisive moment in American history, pictures in which the subject is
forcibly absent. In an equally profound
way, RFK FUNERAL TRAIN offers a salient and instructive contrast to the
diminishing levels of affection that the
public holds towards the political classes of today.
The opening will coincide
with the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy.
Dates: 5 June - 5
July 2008
Location: M+B, 612 North
Almont Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90069
Preview Exhibition
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