Well, here we are on the brink of December. After an unusually warm fall, winter is finally kicking in for the holidays. If you’re like me, you can easily get swept up the whirlwind of preparations, gatherings and gifting. But good news: there are some exciting photography exhibits, especially in Boston area museums! As a treat to your friends and visitors or to your own deserving self, carve out some time to wander through a few of these sparkling exhibits. To really spread the love, you might consider starting or adding to the photography collection of someone on your list – I know it’s my favorite gift to give or receive. Without further ado, here are my Best Photo Picks for December 2017!
SoWa ARTS DISTRICT
“Dinner Party, 2005” by Julie Blackmon (courtesy of the artist and Robert Klein Gallery, Boston).
Robert Klein Gallery at Ars Libri – The wonderfully witty Julie Blackmon opens her solo show Fake Weather (her riff on fake news, see Feature Image) on First Friday, December 1st, 2017, with a reception from 5:30 – 7:30pm. The show runs until January 4th, 2018, when it moves to the main gallery on Newbury Street. For information, go to: https://www.robertkleingallery.com/
“Morning Mint Dew, 2016” from the series Confected by Jason DeMarte (courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston).
Gallery Kayafas – Jason DeMarte’s Confected, Greg Heins’ Fragments/Tokyo, Bruce Cratsley’s Intimate Light and PWMD’s A flat world of paper rein through December 9th, with an Artists’ Reception on First Friday, December 1st, 2017 from 5:30 – 8:30pm. To read my review of this show, go to: https://whatwillyouremember.com/greg-heins-bruce-cratsley-jason-demarte-pwmd-at-gallery-kayafas-boston/
Starting on December 15th, photographer Frank Armstrong will show Often in a Different Landscape (image below) and Jack Lueders-Booth will exhibit Women Prisoners. Booth will offer an exhibit discussion on Wednesday, December 13th and there will be an Artists’ Reception for both shows on Friday, December 15th, 2017 (and on First Friday, January 5th, 2018) from 5:30 – 8:30pm. For information, go to: http://www.gallerykayafas.com/
“Copper Center, Alaska” by Frank Armstrong (courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston).
BOSTON PROPER
JULIE MACK, SELF-PORTRAIT (JULIE) WITH FAMILY IN SUV, MICHIGAN, 2007.
Photograph, chromogenic print. James N. Krebs Purchase Fund for 21st Century Photography. © Julie Mack. Courtesy Laurence Miller Gallery, New York. Courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston – Opening on Saturday, December 9th, 2017, “(un)expected families” brings together more than 80 pictures taken by American photographers from the 19th century to today in a lively exploration of the definition of the American family—from the families we are born into to the ones we have chosen for ourselves. Particularly fitting for the holidays, the photographs challenge visitors to consider what family means to them. “(un)expected families” features celebrated practitioners like Nan Goldin, Carrie Mae Weems, LaToya Ruby Frazier, and Harry Callahan, as well as a number of renowned Boston-area artists, such as David Hilliard, Nicholas Nixon, Abe Morell, and Sage Sohier. Lane Curator of Photographs Karen Haas will be giving a special exhibit talk on Thursday, January 11th, 2018 in the Remis Auditorium from 6:30 – 7:30pm. For information and tickets, go to: http://www.mfa.org/exhibitions/unexpected-families
“Scout and the Reflections, 2015” by Cig Harvey (courtesy of the artist and Robert Klein Gallery, Boston).
Robert Klein Gallery, Newbury Street – In conjunction with the release of her latest enchanting book, You an Orchestra, You a Bomb, Cig Harvey will have a solo show from December 7th, 2017 – January 3rd, 2018, when it travels across town to Ars Libri in the SoWa arts district until January 31st, 2018. there will be an Opening Reception with the artist at the Newbury Street location on Saturday, December 9th, 2017 from 2:00 – 5:00pm. For information, go to: https://www.robertkleingallery.com/
“House of Atlas, 2012” by Grace Weston (courtesy of the artist and Griffin Museum of Photography).
Griffin Museum of Photography at Lafayette City Center, Downtown Crossing – For an uplifting breather during your holiday shopping, stop in to see The Visual Metric group show in the long passageway at Lafayette City Center, on view through January 23rd, 2018. It’s sure to put a pep in your step and all photographs are for sale. For directions and information, go to: http://griffinmuseum.org/show/the-visual-metric/
“January 30, 1953” (Detail) from the series Dare alla Luce by Amy Friend (courtesy of the artist and Panopticon Gallery, Boston).
Panopticon Gallery, Kenmore Square – Let your spirits be bright! Alchemists features the magical manipulation of light and chemicals in the photographs of solo exhibitors Amy Friend and Diana H. Bloomfield, through December 30th, 2017. To see my review of this lovely show, go to: https://whatwillyouremember.com/amy-friend-and-diana-h-bloomfield-at-panopticon-gallery-boston/ For hours, directions and more information, go to: https://www.panopticongallery.com/
“The Brown Sisters, New Canaan, Connecticut, 1975” by Nicholas Nixon (courtesy of the artist and Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco).
The Institute of Contemporary Art, (South) Boston – At long last, Persistence of Vision, a retrospective solo exhibit of internationally renowned, Boston-based photographer Nicholas Nixon opens on December 13th, 2017. Celebrating Nixon’s “enduring photography that captures the passage of time”, the show runs through April 22nd, 2018. For information, go to: https://www.icaboston.org/exhibitions/nicholas-nixon-persistence-vision
BOSTON BURBS AND BEYOND
Nan Goldin (United States, born 1953), Suzanne and Mark dancing, Lexington, MA, 1979, silver-dye bleach print, 21 x 25 inches. Private collection, Houston, TX. © Nan Goldin, courtesy of Matthew Marks Gallery, New York.
Portland Museum of Art, Portland, Maine – On view only through December 31st, 2017, the solo retrospective exhibit of revolutionary photographer Nan Goldin. The show comprises three of the artist’s seminal multimedia installations, including the first installation of Goldin’s The Ballad of Sexual Dependency in New England in more than 30 years. The exhibition also includes a series of grids in which Goldin has grouped—and in many cases reprinted—her photographs into narrative themes, several works from her most recent project, and nearly two dozen photographs that span her prolific career. For information, go to: https://www.portlandmuseum.org/exhibitions/nan-goldin
“Georgia O’Keeffe, circa 1920-1922” by Alfred Stieglitz (American 1864-1946). Courtesy of the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA.
Peabody Essex Museum (PEM), Salem, MA – Georgia O’Keeffe: Art, Image, Style opens at PEM on December 16th, 2017. Traveling here from the blockbuster exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum last summer, the show takes a new look at how the renowned modernist artist proclaimed her progressive, independent lifestyle through a self-crafted public persona—including her clothing and the way she posed for the camera. The exhibition expands our understanding of O’Keeffe by focusing on her wardrobe, shown for the first time alongside key paintings and photographs of O’Keeffe and her homes by Alfred Stieglitz, Ansel Adams, Annie Leibovitz, Philippe Halsman, Yousuf Karsh, Cecil Beaton, Andy Warhol, Bruce Weber, Todd Webb, and others. On view through April 1st, 2018. For information, go to: https://www.pem.org/exhibitions/georgia-okeeffe-art-image-style
Portrait of Raymond Schuyler and his Children, Ethel, Stephen, Beatrice, and Dorothea, about 1904. From the exhibit Rediscovering an American Community of Color: The Photographs of William Bullard at Worcester Art Museum. Taken between 1900 and around 1912, the collection provides a unique window into an American community of color following Civil War reconstruction. Courtesy of the Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA.
Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA – On view through February 25th, 2018, Rediscovering an American Community of Color: The Photographs of William Bullard features eighty of Bullard’s portraits of African Americans and Native Americans mostly from the Beaver Brook community in Worcester, Massachusetts that were rediscovered among over 5,400 of his glass negatives and copiously kept logbooks. This collection is especially rare among extant photographic collections of people of color taken before World War I, uncovering specific stories about individuals and creating a lively, accurate historical context. For information, go to: http://www.worcesterart.org/exhibitions/william-bullard/
“An Inner Dialogue with Frida Kahlo (flower wreath and tears) by Yasumasa Morimura (courtesy of Fitchburg Art Museum, MA).
Fitchburg Art Museum, Fitchburg, MA – People and Places: Contemporary Photographs from the Collection of Dr. Anthony Terrana opened on November 15th, 2017, in celebration of the unprecedented gift of 500 photographs from Dr. Terrana to the museum, expanding by 50% its photography collection that consisted primarily of American 19th and 20th century photographs. The exhibit presents 24 photographs highlighting Dr. Terrana’s interest in contemporary and international photography, especially portraiture. The exhibit will run through May 2018. For information, go to: http://www.fitchburgartmuseum.org/
From the series You Are There, Are You There? There You Are by Alicia Rodriguez Alvisa, student at School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts (courtesy of the artist).
Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, MA – FlashPoint Boston is hosting the 6th annual Undergraduate Photography Now! exhibition at the Griffin Museum, juried by Greer Muldowney (faculty at Boston College, Boston University and Lesley University College of Art and Design) and James Leighton (curatorial research associate for the photography collection at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston). The exhibition represents some of the best work by Juniors and Seniors enrolled in a college photography program in any of the New England States during the 2016–2017 academic year and will be on view in the Atelier Gallery and Griffin Gallery of the Griffin Museum from December 7th through December 31st. A reception will be held at the Griffin Museum on Thursday, December 7th, 2017 from 7:00 – 8:30PM. For information, go to: http://griffinmuseum.org/show/undergraduate-photography-now-vi/
Also coming on December 7th to the Griffin Museum is Winter Solstice 2017. For the fifth year, The Griffin Museum has invited all of its current members to exhibit in the Winter Solstice Exhibition. From across the world, artists enter one piece to be on display for December 2017. Photographs will be presented in the Main Gallery of the Griffin and display a spectrum of genres and processes. The opening reception is Thursday, December 7, 2017 from 7-8:30 PM. Sales are encouraged and many artists have donated the proceeds back to the Griffin. For information, go to: http://griffinmuseum.org/show/winter-solstice-2017-members-exhibition/
From the series Amherst, MA 2016 by Jonathan Mark Jackson, student at Amherst College (courtesy of the artist).
SPECIAL EVENT!
SPECIAL OPPORTUNITY!
Esther Bubley, 1944 Photo by Gordon Parks. Courtesy Library of Congress.
Social Documentary Network is celebrating women photographers by hosting a Call for Entries with any documentary theme from women only, due January 9th, 2018. The winner will be featured in the April 2018 Women’s Issue of ZEKE magazine, guest edited by Boston’s J. Sybylla Smith. For information, go to: http://socialdocumentary.net/competition.php
Feature Image: “Fake Weather, 2017” (Detail) by Julie Blackmon (courtesy of the artist and Robert Klein Gallery, Boston).
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