American Images by Dana Lixenberg at MEP

Spanning more than three decades, the exhibition brings together a committed and deeply human body of work, weaving a multilayered portrait of the United States in which celebrities and lesser-known individuals are approached with equal care.

Overview

Born in Amsterdam, Lixenberg sees the United States through the fresh, discerning eyes of a foreigner, offering a nuanced perspective on the myth of the American Dream. After arriving in New York in 1989, Dana Lixenberg began to develop a photographic language grounded in empathy, mutual trust, and attentive engagement. In doing so, her portraits offer a counter-narrative to prevailing media representations of America, a perspective that remains deeply relevant today.

The human figure is central to her work. Moving across a broad social spectrum, from public figures to those living at the margins, her portraits look beyond status, stripping away the distractions of social context to resist reductive readings. Treating her subjects with respect and curiosity, she reveals the human qualities of celebrities while bringing out the individuality and presence of lesser-known sitters. Her practice is shaped by what she often refers to as a “slow dance” with her subjects. This unhurried approach fosters a sense of connection. Working with a 4×5-inch view camera, a demanding instrument that requires rigor and concentration, she transforms each session into an intimate exchange anchored in a shared moment. Carefully composed and marked by unwavering attention to detail, from the tilt of a head to the curve of an arm, her work resists simplification and achieves a sharp visual clarity.

About The Artist

Dana Lixenberg lives and works in Amsterdam and New York. She studied photography at the London College of Printing (1984–86) and the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam (1987–89). Across her practice, major long-term projects are conceived as both photographic series and publications. Her work is held in numerous public and private collections and has been exhibited at institutions such as Aperture Foundation (New York), Mai Manó Ház (Budapest), the Rijksmuseum and the Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam),the Centre Photographique (Rouen), MMK (Frankfurt), The Photographers’ Gallery (London), the Busan Biennale, Huis Marseille (Amsterdam), LACP (LosAngeles), and the Fotomuseum Den Haag (The Hague). She is represented by Grimm Gallery in Amsterdam, London, and New York.