Bruce Nauman. "Self-Portrait as a Fountain" from the portfolio Eleven Color Photographs. 1966–67/1970. Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. Gerald S. Elliott Collection © 2010 Bruce Nauman/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

Mackie Healy, Art Market Views Contributor

Dolls, dummies, toothpaste, Brancusi’s studio and French cathedrals are among subjects on display at MoMA’s cerebral and sweeping new photography exhibit.

The Original Copy: Photography of Sculpture, 1839 to Today runs until Nov. 1. The show opens with a 1981 Barbara Kruger work, starring a statue with supermodel cheek bones, borrowed from the collection of hedge funder Steve Cohen and wife Alexandra. Titled Untitled (Your Gaze hits the Side of My Face) the slick and sly eye-wink of a piece is the perfect introduction to a show by turns witty, hard-core art historical and altogether pleasurable.

Curator Roxana Marcoci spotlights the intersection of photography and sculpture with over 300 images by more than 100 artists. Her presentation is artful, down to the immaculate vinyl wall labels.  Don’t miss the show’s comprehensive website, found here. (In these cash strapped days, we noticed collector David Teiger is among the show’s funders).

The exhibit is arranged into ten themes, beginning with early photographs by Charles Nègre’s French cathedrals and other representations of classic sculpture.  Gyula Halász’s — AKA Brassaï–  snapshot of the students at the Académie Julian offers an intimate view into the progressive studio of the French art academy that famously allowed women to enroll in the same classes as men.

Another theme involves Auguste Rodin’s sculpture. Rodin was most likely the first sculptor to use photography to record his process, according to MoMA. A series by Eugène Druet captures Rodin’s moody The Kiss in assorted locales.

One room is devoted to The Performing Body as Sculptural Object including photos of performance art and sculpture. Bruce Nauman’s portfolio Eleven Color Photographs (1966-67/1970) spoofs the traditional notion of sculpture.

Barbara Kruger. "Untitled (Your Gaze Hits the Side of My Face)." 1981 The Steven and Alexandra Cohen Collection © 2010 Barbara Kruger

Fischli/Weiss, "Outlaws," 1984, Courtesy the artists and Matthew Marks Gallery, New York © Peter Fischli and David Weiss. Courtesy Matthew Marks Gallery, New York

Man Ray "Noire et blanche (Black and white)." 1926 The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of James Thrall Soby 2010 Man Ray Trust/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York/ADAGP, Paris