A groundbreaking exhibition at The Metropolitan Museum of Art demonstrates that Man Ray's artistic contributions extend far beyond his renowned photography work. "Man Ray: When Objects Dream," featuring approximately 160 works from various international lenders, presents a comprehensive view of the Surrealist artist's diverse creative output spanning multiple decades and mediums.

Visitors entering the exhibition experience a unique sensory journey, walking through a rectangular frame into darkened walls that unfold accordion-like, resembling the bellows of an old camera. Man Ray's earliest film, "Retour à la raison" (Return to Reason) from 1923, flickers on a screen opposite the entrance, immediately setting the tone for this immersive exploration of the artist's work. The exhibition's gradual revelation through several turns allows viewers to appreciate its enormous scope and significance.

The show opens and closes with Man Ray's photographic project "Champs Délicieux" (Delicious Fields), created between 1922 and 1959. These rayographs – photographs created without a camera by directly exposing objects on light-sensitive paper – transform physical objects into ghostly, dreamlike images. However, viewing these works in person reveals their wonderful materiality, including splashes of darkroom chemistry, whorls of fingerprints, and uneven applications of airbrushed paint. Even the creases visible at the top of "La femme" (Woman) from 1918-20 emphasize that these are living objects, reflecting Man Ray's intention to honor the Surrealists' constant play with tactility.

While the exhibition centers on Man Ray's 1920s rayographs, it effectively demonstrates his versatility across numerous artistic mediums. The display includes film, painting, printmaking, stereography, sculpture, chess, and various experimental techniques. The arrangement and wall text descriptions highlight these connections, such as Man Ray's cleverly phallic portrait of an egg beater titled "L'Homme" (Man) from 1918, displayed across from his cliché-verre "The Egg Beater" from 1923, which resembles a technical drawing for a complex mechanical device.

Throughout the exhibition, patterns and objects reappear across different mediums, with a cheese grater pattern appearing in both paintings and as impressions on rayographs, while films animate still photographic impressions. This cross-media approach presents Man Ray less as a photographer – though this remains his greatest legacy – and more as an artist-inventor who experimented with light and objects while maintaining a playful sensibility. Interactive features, including a spinning print turnstile displaying "Facsimile of Revolving Doors" from 1919, honor the Surrealist principle of tactile engagement.

One notable curatorial decision involves the complete omission of the word "photogram" from the exhibition, despite this being the primary term for images created by placing objects on light-sensitive paper. Instead, the museum exclusively uses Man Ray's personal neologism "rayograph," though he was essentially the only artist to use this terminology. While the press release explains this distinction, casual visitors may leave with the mistaken impression that "rayograph" is the standard term for this photographic technique, even though Man Ray was not the only artist creating photograms in the 1920s.

This entrepreneurial self-styling has historical precedents in photography, including Louis Daguerre's "daguerreotype" and Henry Fox Talbot's "talbotype." However, critics argue that Man Ray's work stands strongly against the broader history of photography without requiring institutional support for his personal branding. The exhibition successfully proves that even viewers who may feel oversaturated by the numerous Surrealism centennial exhibitions in 2024 can still discover fresh perspectives on this movement's key photographer.

"Man Ray: When Objects Dream" continues at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, located at 5000 Fifth Avenue on Manhattan's Upper East Side, through February 1, 2026. The exhibition was curated by Stephanie D'Alessandro and Stephen C. Pinson, offering art enthusiasts a rare opportunity to experience the full breadth of Man Ray's innovative artistic vision in a single comprehensive presentation.