Category: Photography

“FRAMING BEAUTY”

“FRAMING BEAUTY” :     AN EXHIBITION OF PHOTOGRAPHS  

                                            BY      

DEBORAH WILLIS THE BODY BUILDER SERIES 2010
           DEBORAH WILLIS
    “THE BODY BUILDER SERIES”
                     1998

               DEBORAH WILLIS

 OPENING RECEPTION

SATURDAY, MARCH 9

6:30 TO 9:00 PM

 

International Visions Gallery

2629 Connecticut Avenue, NW

Washington DC 20008

 

Deb Willis is a contemporary artist, photographer, curator, photographic historian, author, and educator. Named among the 100 Most Important People in Photography by American Photography Magazine, Dr. Deb Willis is one of the nation’s leading historians of African American photography and curator of African American culture.

Deb is a 2000 MacArthur Fellow (aka the Genius Grant), a 2005 Guggenheim

DEBORAH WILLIS It’s good to have a candy man 2008
               DEBORAH WILLIS
    “It’s good to have a candy man!”
                    2010

 and Fletcher Fellow, and a 1996 Recipient of the Anonymous Was a Woman Foundation Award . Deb Willis is also Chair and Professor of Photography and Imaging at Tisch School of the Arts, New York University, where she holds an affiliated appointment with the College of Arts and Sciences, Africana Studies.

“Out [o] Fashion Photography: Embracing Beauty”

1481165_Seattle_Washington copy“Out [o] Fashion Photography: Embracing Beauty” a new exhibition opens on March 2, 2013 at the Henry Art Gallery in Seattle, Washington. The exhibition is curated by Deborah Willis, Ph.D., Visiting Fellow at the Henry Art Gallery and Chair of the Department of Photography and Imaging at the Tisch School of the Arts, New York University.

The exhibition “…explores historical perceptions of beauty and desire through artistic and ethnographic imagery and the role individual photographers play in constructing ways of seeing. Through the themes of idealized beauty, the unfashionable body, the gendered image, and photography as memory, the exhibition challenges and makes problematic the “reading” of photographic images in the twenty-first century. “Out [o]Fashion Photography: Embracing Beauty” addresses ways in which the Henry Art Gallery and the University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, have collected all forms of photography in an effort to capture the times depicted.”

Featured artists include Gertrude Käsebier, Lisette Model, Imogen Cunningham, Lewis Hickes Hine, Bruce Davidson, Cecil Beaton, Edward Curtis, Nan Goldin, Andre Kertesz, Lee Friedlander, Lorna Simpson, Cindy Sherman, Andy Warhol, and Carrie Mae Weems.

“Ashe to Amen: African Americans and Biblical Imagery”

Leslie King-Hammond

Leslie King-Hammond opened recently as guest curator at MOBIA in Manhattan with “Ashe to Amen— African Americans and Biblical Imagery at the Museum of Biblical Art in New York City”. “Ashe”, a Yoruba word, refers to the creative power of an artist to make something happen. “Amen” is an affirmation meaning essentially “so be it” also implying that ‘it’ has been done and done well! This is the feeling that I came away with from much of the work in this exhibition. The beautiful piece by Chester Higgins probably most exemplifies this idea…quiet and understated from the first encounter but then growing in statue and power before your very eyes as you see the deeper significance.

Leslie King-Hammond has curated numerous exhibitions including the very imaginative ‘The Global Africa Project’ which explored the impact of African visual culture on contemporary art, craft and design around the world at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City. Dr. King-Hammond has garnered such prestigious awards as a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Studio Museum in Harlem, a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Women’s Art Caucus-College Art Association, and in 2010 the Alain Locke International Prize, among many others.

The Museum of Biblical Art (MOBIA) provides a beautiful venue for this work. The stated objective of the museum is to ‘provide to the public an interpretation of art through the lens of biblical religions and an understanding of religion through its artistic manifestations’. I believe that this philosophical approach will become increasingly relevant over the coming years and that this venue will benefit greatly from this approach.

Organized by MOBIA, “Ashe to Amen: African Americans and Biblical Imagery” will be on view at MOBIA February 15 – May 26, 2013; at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture June 22 – September 29, 2013; and at the Dixon Gallery and Gardens October 20, 2013 – January 5, 2014.

Major support for MOBIA’s exhibitions and programs has been provided by American Bible Society and by Howard and Roberta Ahmanson. “Ashe to Amen: African Americans and Biblical Imagery” is made possible by the generous support of New York Theological Seminary, the National Endowment for the Arts, Jim and LaFaye Lewis, New York Amsterdam News, and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. Support for children’s educational programs is provided, in part, by TD Charitable Foundation.

Envisioning Emancipation – Presentation, Discussion, and Book Signing at The Schomburg Center

Professors Krauthamer and Hammer
Professors Barbara Krauthamer and Deb Willis appeared  on February 1 at the International Center for Photography in New York for a book signing for their new book Envisioning Emancipation: African Americans and the End of  Slavery.

 Deb Willis and Barbara Krauthamer will appear at the Schomburg Center on February 4th at 6:00 PM for a presentation, discussion, and book signing for the new book, Envisioning Emancipation: Black Americans and the End of Slavery. Envisioning Emancipation- produces and encourages the view of African American courage and heroism under 240 years of enslavement in the americas. This view denies the post-enslavement version promoted in classical american history. The very highly regarded book has been in high demand throughout the United States since its formal release on January 1, 2013.

Visualizing Emancipation– an exhibition of civil war era photographs curated by Dr. Willis is also on display at the Schomburg Center until March 9, 2013.

The authors will also appear for book signings on Thursday, February 7th at the Philadelphia Free Library in Philadelphia, Pa.

BLACK PORTRAITURE[S]: BLACK BODIES IN THE WEST/ CONFERENCE UPDATE

Ecole Nationale Superieure des Baux-Arts/14 Rue Napoleon/Paris, France
Ecole Nationale Superieure des Baux-Arts/14 Rue Napoleon/Paris, France

‘Black Portraiture[s]: Black Bodies in the West’ The fifth conference in the series opened January 17, 2013 at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beau-arts/ 14 Rue Bonaparte/ Paris, France. The registration exceeded all expectations. On a very cold day in Paris all panels were full and the presentations were attended by standing room only conferees. According to the producers:

  • The conference launch was a resounding success, boasting over 350 local and international attendees from Tunisia and Canada, Angola and Denmark, South Africa and Spain. We are thrilled at the turnout and inspired by such lively discussion.

The second session opens today January 18 at 9:00 AM and registration continues until 5:00 PM.

registration area eba
Conference Registration – Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris, France.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The producers  have chosen the beautiful École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts (ENSB-A), the distinguished National School of Fine Arts in Paris, France as the site for registration.  Throughout history, many world-renowned artists have either taught or studied at this institution.

Panelists on January 18 include:

Cheryl Finley, Cornell University:

Pamela Newkirk, NYU

Roshini Kempadoo, University of London

Isolde Brielmaieer, Chief Curator, SCAD Museum of Art/SCAD Galleries: Chair

Carrie Mae Weems, Artist, JackShainman Gallery, New York

Mark Anthony Neal, Professor of Black Popular Culture, Duke University

conference attendees listen to a presenter w400px
Conference Attendees Listen to a Presenter

Sandra Jackson-Dumont, Seattle Art Museum, Chair

Robert O’meally, Columbia University

Mimi Plange, Fashion Designer

Michaela Angela Davis, Writer fashion expert and image activist

and many others from throughout the western world.