Peter Hujar: Eyes Open in the Dark

“I photograph those who push themselves to any extreme, and people who cling to the freedom to be themselves.”

Photographer Peter Hujar (1934–1987) was a central figure in the New York downtown scene of the 1970s and 1980s. In the 1950s, Hujar studied photography at the School of Industrial Arts in Manhattan. After abandoning commercial photography, he led a financially precarious life, exhibiting only occasionally.

Peter Hujar's primary concern was wirh portraiture - he photographed his friends, lovers, and people in his social circle with striking intimacy and emotional depth. In his work, which also includes animal, landscape, and architectural subjects, Hujar repeatedly reveals himself as a sensitive chronicler of a time of social upheaval and radical sexual transformation.

The exhibition Peter Hujar: Eyes Open in the Dark in the Bundeskunsthalle (Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany) in Bonn focuses on Hujar's work since the 1970s and reflects his exploration of the relational possibilities of the grid. It was curated by Hujar's biographer John Douglas Millar and his friend Gary Schneider, in close collaboration with the photographer's estate.

When Hujar died of AIDS-related pneumonia, his work was largely unknown. Today, however, Peter Hujar is considered one of the most important photographers of the second half of the 20th century.

The exhibition was originally organized by Raven Row with thanks to the Peter Hujar Foundation.

Curators: John Douglas Millar, Gary Schneider

Exhibition publication: Peter Hujar. Eyes Open in the Dark, 144 pages, 134 illustrations, in German language, Publishing house of the bookshop Walther und Franz König, Cologne, ISBN 978 3 7533 0972 9

 In partnership with the Bundeskunsthalle, the Gropius Bau, Berlin, presents from March 19 to June 28, 2026: Peter Hujar / Liz Deschenes: Persistence of Vision.

The exhibition Peter Hujar: Eyes Open in the Dark is part of Bundeskunsthalle's theme year What We Have in Common. Dimensions of Social Sustainability which focuses on the question of how art, education, cultural exchange and social dialogue can help bring about an environment that benefits everyone.

Also on view 2026:

Amazônia. Indigenous Worlds
March 13 to August 9, 2026

Sex Work. A Cultural History
April 2 to October 25, 2026

NEVER AGAIN! Against Forgetting the Crimes of the Nazi Era
October 9, 2026 to May 2, 2027

Avant-Guardistas. 100 Years of Latin American Female Artists
December 4, 2026 to March 29, 2027

For the most up to date schedule, please go visit here.

Director: Eva Kraus
Managing director: Oliver Hölken
Press officer: Sven Bergmann, kommunikation@bundeskunsthalle.de

The Bundeskunsthalle is supported by 
Der Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien