Peter Hujar: Eyes Open in the Dark
Published February 20, 2026 in Apollo Magazine
Given Peter Hujar’s talent for capturing subjects in quiet, vulnerable moments, exhibitions of his black-and-white portrait photography tend to feel like intimate affairs, but this survey in Bonn feels especially personal. It was co-curated by his friend Gary Schneider and his biographer John Douglas Millar (27 February–23 August). The exhibition, which first ran at Raven Row in London last year, assembles snapshots the artist took in New York between the mid 1970s and mid ’80s. These range from the deeply personal, such as a photo of Hujar’s friend and lover Paul Thek lying in a clearing among Florida pines, to the artfully staged – including Hujar’s shot of the Warhol superstar Candy Darling on her deathbed, staring down the camera, in 1973. Also on display are photos of William S. Burroughs and Susan Sontag, striking cityscapes and a haunting photo of a cow behind barbed wire – taken in a farm in Westtown near the New Jersey border – that Hujar once referred to as a self-portrait.
Find out more from the Bundeskunsthalle’s website.
