Choose Your Own Adventure

Where: Smithsonian American Art Museum

When: closing October 14, 2019

David Levinthal photographs toy figurines.  It's as simple as that.  He photographs sports figures (like Eddie Matthews of the Milwaukee Braves, pictured here), Wild West figures, Barbie dolls and figures from American history.  He constructs tableaux with them and then photographs them, blurring the images to make them more lifelike.

Describing the show this way makes it seem silly; who want to see pictures of someone's toys?  Levinthal himself said, "There's less in my work than meets the eye."  And that's where you, the viewer, come in.  You construct the narrative around the photographs, just as children do with their own toys.

There's something both odd and appealing about this show; it's an invitation to remember the past and stories about the past and also to examine how much truth there is in those memories and stories.

Verdict: This large show is a sample of a gift of Levinthal's works that were recently donated to the museum; one hopes this is not the last display of his work we will see.