By Elin Spring and Suzanne Révy
If you’re looking to see great photography and to stay warm, I’d say your best bet in February is heading to the MFA, Boston where there are three, count ’em three, remarkable photography shows on view. And of course, there are intriguing new and continuing shows throughout the region, which we feature below by location.
SOWA – BOSTON’S ART GALLERY DISTRICT
“One Way, North End” c. 1955. 13.25″x 7.75″ Vintage Gelatin Silver Print © Estate of Jules Aarons (courtesy of Gallery Kayafas, Boston).
Gallery Kayafas – Step in to Boston’s past with vintage photographs from Jules Aarons’ West End & North End c. 1947-70 and Jack Lueders-Booth’s Chinatown to Jamaica Plain 1985-87, capturing the city’s distinctive personalities and diverse neighborhoods during times of great change. On view February 1st – 23rd, 2019, there will be an Artist Reception on First Friday, February 1st, 2019 from 5:30 – 8:30pm. For more information, go to: http://www.gallerykayafas.com/
BOSTON PROPER
Opening This Month
From the series Immersed and Submerged by Sage Sohier (courtesy of the artist and Robert Klein Gallery, Boston).
Robert Klein Gallery – In her first solo show since joining the gallery, Sage Sohier’s latest series Immersed and Submerged signals something of a departure from her past portrait-based projects. Bringing her keen and nuanced eye to landscape, Sohier’s exhibit will be on view through March 13th, 2019. There will be an Opening Reception with the artist on Saturday, February 2nd, 2019, from 2:00 – 5:00pm. For more information, go to: https://www.robertkleingallery.com/
Boston, 1982 © Neal Rantoul (courtesy of the artist).
Boston Society of Architects (BSA) – Neal Rantoul’s vertiginous infrared photographs in Boston Up and Peter Vanderwarker’s studies of distortion, reflection, opacity and invisibility in Surface Tension, feature Boston’s architecture, on view through June 1st, 2019. For more information, go to: https://www.architects.org/bsaspace/feature-exhibitions
“Aouchem, Main,” série Amazigh, by Safaa Mazirh (courtesy of the artist and Galerie 127, Marrakesh, Morocco).
Boston University Art Galleries – Looking Out, Looking In: Contemporary Artists from Morocco brings together seven diverse Moroccan photographers and videographers who explore the complex and diverse social issues that impact Morocco today, both obvious and hidden from view. The exhibit runs from February 8th – March 31st, 2019 with an Opening Reception in the Stone Gallery on Thursday, February 7th, 2019, from 6:00 – 8:00pm. For more information, go to: https://www.bu.edu/art/exhibitions/current-upcoming/looking-out-looking-in-contemporary-artists-from-morocco/
“Luminogramm, 1952” by Otto Steinert (courtesy of the MFA, Boston).
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA) – Postwar Visions: European Photography, 1945-60 features the work of European photographers whose creative retort to wartime repression was an inventive exploration of emotion through abstract imagery. On view from February 9th – June 23rd, 2019. For more information, go to: https://www.mfa.org/exhibitions/postwar-visions
Ongoing Exhibits of Note
Self‐Portrait, Monument Valley, Utah, 1958 Ansel Adams (American, 1902–1984) Photograph, gelatin silver print, The Lane Collection © The Ansel Adams Publishing Rights Trust, Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
MFA, Boston – Don’t miss Ansel Adams in Our Time, on view only through February 24th, 2019! This inspiring show considers not only work by Adams but his photographic forebears and the contemporary artists he continues to influence, bringing fresh relevance to his iconic work. For our review, go to: https://whatwillyouremember.com/ansel-adams-in-our-time-at-museum-of-fine-arts-boston/ For hours, directions and information about associated events, go to: https://www.mfa.org/exhibitions/ansel-adams-in-our-time
Angel Woman, Sonora Desert / Mujer Ángel, Desierto de Sonora México, 1979 Graciela Iturbide (Mexican, born in 1942) Photograph, gelatin silver print, Elizabeth and Michael Marcus, © Graciela Iturbide *Courtesy, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
MFA, Boston – With a passionate belief in our human commonalities, even for the most foreign of Mexican subcultures, photographer Graciela Iturbide has crafted a layered and mystical vision of her paradoxical native land. Making the alien personal – especially in light of polarization over building “the wall” to separate us from our neighbors – Graciela Iturbide’s Mexico could hardly be more timely or powerful, on view at the MFA, Boston through May 12th, 2019. For our review, go to: https://whatwillyouremember.com/graciela-iturbides-mexico-at-museum-of-fine-arts-boston/ For more information about the exhibit and related programming, go to: https://www.mfa.org/exhibitions/graciela-iturbides-mexico
“Image of Structure, Form No. 4, 2016” by Joshua Sariñana, (courtesy of the artist and Panopticon Gallery, Boston).
Panopticon Gallery – If variety is the spice of life, then Panopticon Gallery in Boston’s Kenmore Square is dishing up a great start to the New Year. First Look cameos tantalizing samplings of work from five photographers employing a range of practices and visions. Cate Wnek, Joshua Sariñana, JP Terlizzi, Catie Soldan and Susan de Witt serve up First Look in the Hotel Commonwealth through March 4th, 2019. For our review, go to: https://whatwillyouremember.com/cate-wnek-joshua-sarinana-jp-terlizzi-catie-soldan-susan-de-witt-first-look-at-panopticon-gallery-boston/ For more information, go to: https://www.panopticongallery.com/first-look-2019/
BEYOND BOSTON
“Betsy, 2013” by Jess T. Dugan (courtesy of the artist and Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago).
Montserrat College of Art (Beverly, MA) – In her solo show Every Breath We Drew, photographer Jess Dugan expands on gender identity and sexual orientation through moving portraiture that asks larger questions about how identity is formed, desire is expressed, and intimate connection is sought. On view through March 16th, 2019. For directions and more information about related events, go to: https://www.montserrat.edu/portfolio-item/jess-dugan/
From the series What I Know So Far by Jackie Heitchue (courtesy of the artist and Griffin Museum of Photography).
The Griffin Museum at Greater Boston Stage Company (Stoneham, MA) – In her solo show What I Know So Far, Jackie Heitchue invokes the underlying strains of family life in quiet, sumptuously staged allegories, using symbolic objects and formal, dramatic lighting to convey the deeper link between love and loss. On view from February 7th – April 2nd, 2019. For more information, go to: https://griffinmuseum.org/show/what-i-know-so-far-2/
“Emailed JPG Kiss Goodnight, 2014” from the series Surface Tension by Tabitha Soren (courtesy of the artist and Davis Museum, Wellesley, MA).
Davis Museum at Wellesley College (Wellesley, MA) – By highlighting the smudges and finger swipes dancing across the surfaces of cell phones, while allowing the underlying image to bleed through, Tabitha Soren sets the premise of her solo show, Surface Tension. In oversized prints of pictures born in tiny phones, image and artifact interact to create layers of visual and visceral messages. On view from February 7th – June 9th, 2019, for information about the exhibit, go to: https://www.wellesley.edu/davismuseum/whats-on/upcoming/node/161576
Work by Edie Bresler (left) and Caleb Cole (right) in Lost & Found (courtesy of the artists and Gallery Kayafas, Boston).
The Garner Center at NESOP (Waltham, MA) – In Lost & Found, Boston-based artists Edie Bresler and Caleb Cole select works from recent projects focusing on found and appropriated images which are transformed through intervention and imagination into narratives on love, loss and longing. Alternative processes and mixed-media applications transport the viewer into imagined realities, both fantastical and true. On view from February 12th – March 15th, 2019, there will be an Opening Reception with the artists on Tuesday, February 19th, 2019 from 6:00 – 7:30pm. For more information, go to: https://www.nesop.edu/events/the-garner-center/edie-bresler-caleb-cole/
“Collision of Two Balls, 1959” by Berenice Abbott (courtesy of Brown University, Providence, RI).
Bell Gallery at Brown University (Providence, RI) – The gallery is hosting two shows with significant photographic works. Recent Acquisitions:Photography and Abstraction includes works by Berenice Abbot (above), Edward Burtynsky, Bill Jacobson, Aaron Siskind, and Hiroshi Sugimoto, to name a few, and will be on view through May 26th, 2019. Also drawn primarily from the gallery’s collection, Danny Lyon: The Only Thing I Saw Worth Leaving presents photographs from four of Lyon’s most significant series, all shot in the 1960’s, that share his abiding themes of empathy, freedom, history, destruction and narrative, on view through March 17th, 2019. For more information, go to: https://www.brown.edu/campus-life/arts/bell-gallery/exhibitions/current
Rhode Island Center for Photographic Arts (RICPA), Providence, R.I. – A group show selected by Lenscratch founder Aline Smithson includes the work of 74 photographers from 27 States, Canada and England. Opening Reception on Friday, February 21st, 2019 from 5:00 – 9:00pm. On view through March 15th, 2019. For hours, directions and more information, go to: https://www.riphotocenter.org/6th-international-open-call-aline-smithson-juror/
“Haim Ozer Street, Jerusalem, 3/2/2002, August 2003” by Yoav Horesh (courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston).
Museum of Art at University of New Hampshire (Durham, NH) – In his solo show Aftermath, Yoav Horesh depicts the relative normalcy at sites of suicide bombings in Israel, months or years after the destruction, challenging viewers to question our personal and cultural tolerance for violence. On view through March 30th, 2019. An artist talk is scheduled for Wednesday February 6, 2019 at 12:10pm. For more information, go to: https://cola.unh.edu/museum-art/exhibitions
Ongoing Exhibits of Note
“Detached Aura” by John Reuter, courtesy of the artist and the Griffin Museum of Photography.
Griffin Museum of Photography (Winchester, MA) – John Reuter’s inventive mixed media imagery using Polaroid technologies conjures surrealist scenes that magnify the mythical aspects of photography. Shadows and Traces: The Photography of John Reuter, curated by Barbara Hitchcock (former Cultural Affairs Director at Polaroid Corporation), will be on view in the Main Gallery through March 3rd, 2019. The Griffin is hosting a Conversation with John Reuter and Barbara Hitchcock on Sunday, February 10th, 2019 from 4:00 – 5:30pm. For information about the event, go to: https://griffinmuseum.org/event/conversation-john-reuter-barbara-hitchcock/
For our review of the Reuter exhibit, go to: https://whatwillyouremember.com/shadows-and-traces-the-photography-of-john-reuter-at-the-griffin-museum-of-photgoraphy-ma/
JK Lavin’s solo show Crisis of Experience continues in the Griffin Gallery through March 3rd, 2019, as does Linda Troeller’s solo exhibit Self Reflection in the Atelier Gallery. For more information, go to: https://griffinmuseum.org/exhibitions/
“NYC Studio 43, 1977” by Larry Fink, courtesy of the artist and the DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park.
deCordova Sculpture Park & Museum (Lincoln, MA) – Drawn from deCordova’s permanent collection, Larry Fink: Primal Empathy, focuses on the central role of empathy in Fink’s work. Whether photographing members of elite society or rural farmers, empathy fuels his curiosity about our shared humanity and shapes his decisions for lighting, framing, and positioning his subjects. On view through March 10th, 2019, the deCordova will host a Jazz Night on Friday February 1st, 2019 from 6:00 – 8:30pm featuring photographer Larry Fink on harmonica with The Pat McGee Quintet!To read our review of the exhibit, go to: https://whatwillyouremember.com/larry-fink-primal-empathy-decordova-museum-and-sculpture-park/ For hours, directions and information about Jazz Night, go to: https://decordova.org/art/exhibition/larry-fink-primal-empathy
“Woman with Scarf at Inspiration Point, Yosemite National Park” 1980 by Roger Minick, vintage dye coupler print, courtesy of the Addison Gallery of American Art.
Addison Gallery of American Art (Andover, MA) –If you love photography, don’t miss the twoshows featuring a fabulous selection of images, from historic to contemporary, and landscapes to portraiture! To read our review of Contemplating the View: American Landscape Photographs (on view through March 3rd, 2019), go to: https://whatwillyouremember.com/contemplating-the-view-at-the-addison-gallery-of-american-art/
To read our review of The Body: Concealing and Revealing (on view through March 31st, 2019), go to: https://whatwillyouremember.com/the-body-concealing-and-revealing-at-addison-gallery-of-american-art-andover-ma/
From the series Harem Revisited by Lalla Essaydi (courtesy of the artist, Howard Yezerski Gallery, Boston and Edwin Houk Gallery, NY).
Newport Art Museum, Newport, R.I. – Moroccan-born photographer Lalla Essaydi’s solo exhibit includes photographs spanning from the artist’s earliest series “Converging Territories” to the more recent series “Harem Revisited.” In the artist’s words, “By reclaiming the rich tradition of calligraphy and interweaving it with the traditionally female art of henna, I have been able to express, and yet, in another sense, dissolve the contradictions I have encountered in my culture: between hierarchy and fluidity, between public and private space, between the richness and the confining aspects of Islamic traditions.” Essaydi’s sumptuous, engulfing photographs will be on view through February 17th, 2019. For hours, directions and more information, go to: https://newportartmuseum.org/exhibitions/lalla-essaydi-from-converging-territories-to-harem-revisited/
“Marilyn Monroe, actress, New York City, May 6, 1957” © Richard Avedon (courtesy of the Estate of Richard Avedon).
Portland Museum of Art, Portland, Maine – Richard Avedon: Portraits 1952-1970 is an intimate exhibit featuring a selection of portraits from the 1970 Minneapolis Portfolio, which marked a significant stylistic shift in Avedon’s work, casting his celebrity subjects anew. On view through February 17th, 2019,. To read our review, go to: https://whatwillyouremember.com/richard-avedon-portraits-1952-1970-at-the-portland-museum-of-art-in-maine/ For more information, go to: https://www.portlandmuseum.org/exhibitions/richard-avedon-portraits-1952-1970
EVENTS OF NOTE – in chronological order
Photographer Karin Rosenthal will discuss her current work and Kniznick Gallery exhibition “Half-Silvered.” at the Brandeis Women’s Studies Research Center in Waltham, MA on Tuesday, February 5th, 2019 at 5:00pm, followed by a reception. For information, go to: https://www.brandeis.edu/wsrc/events.html
Social Documentary Network and Digital Silver Imaging present Documentary Matters with Featured Presenters Erik Hoffner, Meredith Nierman, and Paris Visone at Digital Silver Imaging in Belmont, MA on Wednesday, February 6th, 2019 from 6:30 – 9:00pm. For information and registration, go to: https://www.socialdocumentary.net/cms/doc-matters-2-6-19
Independent scholar, writer and curator Alison Nordström presents “Approaching Abstraction” at the Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester, MA on Thursday, February 7th, 2019 from 7:00 – 8:30pm. For information and tickets, go to: https://griffinmuseum.org/event/approaching-abstraction-lecture-alison-nordstrom/
Massachusetts College of Art & Design has set its Spring 2019 Photography Lecture Series, beginning with Carl Fuldner on Tuesday, February 26th, 2019 at 2:00pm in the Tower Auditorium. For full lecture schedule and information, go to: https://www.massartphotography.org/lecture-series/
CALLS FOR ENTRY
THE FENCE is a large-scale traveling photography exhibition reaching over 8 million visitors annually through open-air exhibitions in 8 cities across North America: Atlanta, Boston, Brooklyn, Calgary, Denver, Houston, Sarasota and Seattle. Choose from seven categories of photography and submit your work by Feb 11 for Early Bird Deadline ($35 entry fee) or March 11 for Regular Deadline ($45 entry fee). Full disclosure, Elin is on the jury this year. For details, go to: https://fence.photoville.com/submit-now/
NESOP Annual Juried Show – “Stranger Than Fiction: Street Photography” will be juried by Hank Hauptmann. Artists are invited to submit thematic work made on the street or in the tradition of investigative documentary photography in the public forum which celebrates the thrilling, unseen, odd, absurd reality of the human experience. They kindly ask for images which were seen or found, not created or staged. Entry deadline is February 22nd, 2019. For details, go to: https://www.nesop.edu/workshops/call-entry-juried-group-show/
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