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A Documentary Koopman The works of six internationally known photographers are featured in the 1999 Koopman exhibition at the Joseloff Gallery. The exhibit, entitled "Documentary Theater," was curated by art critic and writer Andy Grundberg. Grundberg and one of the photographers, Merry Alpern, have been designated holders of the 1999-2000 Richard Koopman Distinguished Chair for the Visual Arts at the Hartford Art School. The show, which runs through Dec. 19, was organized by Zina Davis, director of the Joseloff Gallery. ?In addition to Alpern, the participating photographers are Tina Barney, Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Rineke Dijkstra, Anna Gaskell and Nan Goldin. In his essay accompanying the exhibition, Grundberg noted that the six artists make photographs that are theatrical in their composition and presentation, but that also remainindebted to the traditional strategies of documentary realism.
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Enjoying the 1999 Koopman exhibition during the grand opening Oct. 20 are (left to right): photographers Merry Alpern and Tina Barney; Georgette Koopman, past president of the Hartford Art School Board of Trustees; and art critic Andy Grundberg. In the back is Hartford Art School Dean Stuart Schar. The Richard Koopman Distinguished Chair for the Visual Arts was a gift from Georgette and the late Richard Koopman. Alpern and Grundberg are the 1999 chair holders. 
The adjustments and frenzied reality of the world of serious shopping are depicted in Merry Alpern's series "Shopping," now on display at the 1999 Koopman exhibition, "Documentary Theater." "In her work, Alpern ventures into the world of voyeurism and surveillance," said art critic Andy Grundberg, curator of the exhibit. "For the pictures seen in this exhibit, Alpern carried a concealed video camera into clothing stores to record the behaviors of shoppers and salespeople. The grainy images seem prima facie documentary, but are rendered theatrical by the descriptive uncertainty of the enlarged print and our knowledge of the artist's trespass.
