GLOBAL VISTAS

Three new exhibitions offer an expansive view.

WILLIAM EGGLESTON

DAVID ZWIRNER,

LOS ANGELES

The story behind “The Last Dyes,” a new William Eggleston exhibition at David Zwirner in Los Angeles, is rather quaint. To produce his densely colorful photographs—all those deep reds and glowing pastels—Eggleston, who turned 85 in July, has largely relied on a highly technical and time- consuming dye- transfer process that, in 2024, only a married couple based in Washington State can execute at the highest level. Further complicating matters is the fact that 30 years ago, Kodak discontinued the materials required to do it—leading Eggleston’s family to buy up whatever chemicals and specialized paper were left. Now, with those supplies exhausted, Zwirner is showing the final set of William Eggleston prints ever made in the distinctive format.

In a way, things are ending as they began, with Eggleston the lone man standing. These days, dye-transfer art prints are rare because the technology is barely extant; in the early 1970s, when Eggleston was first switched on to the process, it was used mainly in advertisements—not fine art. “Eggleston was always experimenting with how to get the most color with the medium of photography,” says Robert Goff, a senior director at David Zwirner. When the artist showed those prints at the Museum of Modern Art in 1976, the reaction was mixed. “People howled that this stuff that looked like advertising was in the hallowed halls of the museum,” Goff explains.