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Maud Morgan & Michael Silver

In 1994, acclaimed painter Maud Morgan began collaborating with photographer Michael Silver, brought together through their mutual friend—and appreciation for—John Cage. The nature of their relationship was entirely complementary; as Morgan described in her autobiography Maud’s Journey: A Life From Art, she “knew nothing about photography, and Michael knew little about painting or collage…. We both thought of these conditions as advantages. I was ninety-one and Michael forty-six. We thought of that as an advantage too… the totally unforced merging of our two psyches fitted with the capabilities of our physiques,” Morgan concluded. And in a statement titled “Working Method,” Silver likened the printing of their work to “a friendly game of chess with each of us reacting to the other with moves, countermoves, etc. The only difference was we both won.” In addition to responding to each other, they also responded to the voice recordings of John Cage and the music of Erik Satie, of which several tracks played simultaneously, in a layered fashion, in their studio.

Maud Morgan and Michael Silver

Maud Morgan and Michael Silver

Untiled from Transposition, 1994 photograph and platinum palladium print 1995.70.jpg museum purchase

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