AMERICAN ODYSSEY: 1963-1999

Mary Ellen Mark is perhaps the most visually ironic photographer to be embraced by the mainstream media, with her black-and-white portraits of downtrodden Americans. Mark's slyness lies in her ability to make images of innocence (two girls at their senior prom; children in a wading pool) seem salacious, while at the same time imbuing the sordid with grace (a KKK member and his son embrace in a pieta; a mental patient in a bathtub resembles a Mary Cassatt drawing). Chances are you'll either find Mark's relentless images grating or gorgeous, but they will, no matter what, hold your eye. B+ -- Rebecca Ascher-Walsh