Self Portrait

Born in Philadelphia, raised in Brooklyn, wiry, kinetic Man Ray (1890-1976) set Paris, New York and Hollywood spinning as he shifted between mediums (painting, photography, film, surreal objects) and fused them. This jaunty, chatty autobiographyfirst published in 1963 and now decked out with 240 illustrationsoffers arresting glimpses of Dada and Surrealism in their heydays. Man Ray always keeps a sense of humor about himself and the avant-garde happenings swirling around him. His photographs of Dali, Picasso, Gertrude Stein, Hemingway and Joyce are vintage. Of even greater interest is the endless profusion of Man Ray images: dream compositions, typographical poems, airbrush nudes, moving sculpture, Cubist landscapes, a cymbals-and-drum machine, mannequins, experimental photographs. Pictures and text attest to this artist's rare gift for rendering ideas in multiple formats. (October)