By Elin Spring and Suzanne Révy
Although the splendors of spring are upon us, there is ample opportunity to seize upon a rainy day to duck into the ever expanding number of galleries and museums with excellent photography exhibits. Here are our top picks for exhibits open to the public around Boston and beyond in the coming month, listed geographically for your planning convenience.
SOWA – BOSTON’S SOUTH END ARTS DISTRICT
Feature Image: “Viewer 556”, 2018, from the series The Viewers by Greg Heins, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.
Gallery Kayafas – With a refined style that emphasizes formal qualities and visual relationships, Greg Heins once again summons our imagination in his third solo exhibit at the gallery, featuring two series: The Viewers captures pre-pandemic museum-goers from behind, utilizing gesture and composition to draw us into the mystery of their contemplations; Fall in the Garden similarly ponders human attitudes, this time reflected in the planting styles found throughout Boston’s community gardens, as people sought refuge from an isolating pandemic. The adjoining gallery hosts the mixed media You need to talk to me now, in which Frank Egloff manipulates a “complicated sum of moving parts – interests and agendas – the sublime and the prosaic – engaging us inevitably in contemporary culture.” On view through June 5th, 2021, there will be an Opening Reception on First Friday, May 7th from 5:30 – 8:00pm. Greg Heins will be in the gallery on Saturday, May 15th from 11:00 am – 5:30pm. For more information, go to: https://swordfish-cheetah-gn8l.squarespace.com/current
“Wire Chair and Daisies, Boston, 2020” from the series Fall in the Garden by Greg Heins, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.
“Untitled/ after Ingmar Bergman, Personna, 1966, 2019,” Acrylic on canvas ©Frank Egloff, courtesy of Gallery Kayafas, Boston.
BOSTON PROPER
“Laura Mae”
Judy Dater (American, born in 1941)
1973
Photograph, gelatin silver print, Polaroid Foundation Purchase Fund
© Judy Dater (1973)
Photograph © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston – Here’s reason to celebrate, there is a new photography exhibit at the MFA! Personal and Political: Women Photographers, 1965-1985 is a newly installed rotation inside the Women Take the Floor show at the top of the Art of the Americas Wing. Representing a pivotal era in feminism, more than 30 works address themes ranging from the natural world to street photography to the domestic sphere and include renowned US photographers such as Judy Dater (above), Diane Arbus, Sally Mann, Annie Leibovitz, Cindy Sherman and Ming Smith (below), as well as recently acquired works by under-recognized photographers from the Americas. For information, go to: https://www.mfa.org/exhibition/women-take-the-floor
On view through May 30th, 2021 in the Herb Ritts Gallery, Elsa Dorfman: Me and My Camera highlights a selection of 20″x 24″ Polaroid self-portraits by the famed Cambridge portrait photographer, as well as a group of smaller B&W images from her landmark 1974 photobook Elsa’s Housebook: A Woman’s Photojournal. For more information, go to: https://www.mfa.org/exhibition/elsa-dorfman-me-and-my-camera
“Amen Corner Sisters, New York City, NY”
Ming Smith (American, born in 1947)
1976, printed 2019
Photograph, gelatin silver print, The Heritage Fund for a Diverse Collection
Courtesy of the artist and Jenkins Johnson Gallery, Photograph © Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
“Gatwick #5, 2015” from the series From the Air by Jeffrey Milstein, courtesy of the artist and Robert Klein Gallery, Boston.
Robert Klein Gallery – In May of 2019, the illustrious aerial photographer Jeffrey Milstein was granted rare permission to photograph Paris from a helicopter. One thousand feet up, with the door off, and tethered by a harness as he leaned out over city landmarks, Milstein’s training as an architect and keen eye for finding exquisite patterns of form and color have come together in “Jeffrey Milstein:From the Air.” Milstein’s aerial photographs from Paris, London, Los Angeles, New York and beyond will be on view through June 30th, 2021 by appointment only and signed copies of his latest monograph, “Paris From the Air” (Rizzoli 2021) are available for purchase from the gallery. For information, go to: https://www.robertkleingallery.com/from-the-air
In conjunction with his solo retrospective show Paul Ickovic: In Transit at Bibliotheque national de France (BnF, Paris) on view through August 22nd, 2021, the gallery is presenting a selection of B&W street scenes and improvised portraits beginning in the 1960s. The BnF exhibit highlights the close bond the photographer forged with his contemporaries – Henri Cartier-Bresson (on exhibit in an adjoining gallery), Bruce Davidson, Louis Faurer, and Josef Koudelka. A 61-plate monograph entitled Ickovic, published in conjunction with the museum exhibition, is available for purchase from the gallery. For information, go to: https://www.robertkleingallery.com/
“Boy with Pram”, ca. 1970, gelatin silver photograph by Paul Ickovic, courtesy of Robert Klein Gallery, Boston.
“Pod” 2020, by Cathy Cone, courtesy of the artist and Griffin Museum of Photography.
Griffin Museum at Lafayette City Center Passageway, Downtown Crossing – In the group exhibition Digits: A Parallel Universe, eleven photographers use a range of digital manipulations to create exciting explorations of altered states, times or dimensions: Debe Arlook, Diana Cheren Nygren, Najee Dorsey, Cathy Cone (above), Miren Etcheverry, Dennis Geller, Bill Gore, Marcy Juran, Deborah Kaplan, Lisa Ryan and Gordon Saperia. On view through June 9, 2021, for more information, go to: https://griffinmuseum.org/show/digits-parallel-universe/
To read our review: https://www.whatwillyouremember.com/digits-a-parallel-universe-at-griffin-museum-satellite-in-lafayette-city-center-boston/
CAMBRIDGE
Installation view of PRC pop-up exhibition Field of Vision in CambridgeSide Galleria (2nd Floor) in Cambridge, MA (photo courtesy Suzanne Révy).
Photographic Resource Center (PRC) Pop-Up Gallery at CambridgeSide Galleria – The group exhibit Field of Vision, curated by Jessica Burko, PRC Program Manager and Curator, honors the New England landscape with photographs by Deborah Kaplan, Steven Keirstead, Bruce Myren, Anne Randolph and Suzanne Révy. On view at the CambridgeSide Galleria on the 2nd Floor through June 26th, 2021, for gallery hours and more information, go to: https://www.prcboston.org/field-of-vision/
“Lumen-negative (agfa 1)” 2020, Lumen print on B&W orthochromatic film, unique print 42″x 36″ from the series LUCID by Shaina Gates, courtesy of Gallery 263, Cambridge, MA.
Gallery 263, Cambridgeport, MA – Shaina Gates’ solo show LUCID features her ethereal Lumen prints (also known as sun prints). Kaleidoscopic images of delicate blushes, strong umbers and vibrant yellows are created through camera-less process in which an alchemy of varying emulsion formulas and environmental factors such as temperature, humidity, and time of year merge with Gates’ techniques of creasing either B&W film or paper. On view through May 15th, 2021, for gallery hours and information, go to: https://www.gallery263.com/exhibitions/lucid/
THE BURBS
Death Row Portraits by Lou Jones as part of “What We Do In The Shadows” exhibit on view at the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Lincoln, MA. (Installation photograph by Suzanne Révy)
deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Lincoln, MA – Two new shows incorporate photography among other media. What We Do In The Shadows features prints and photographs that explore places hidden in shadows where people can either flourish in secret or where governments conceal something more sinister. The exhibit includes local luminaries like Lou Jones (above), Barbara Norfleet and Laura McPhee. A second show, Sonya Clark: Heaven Bound includes six large scale vinyl print portraits of former enslaved Americans, such as Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth, among others. On view through September 12, 2021.
For more information and to make reservations: https://thetrustees.org/program/decordova-exhibtions/
“Staying Silent” by Jerry Takigawa from the series Balancing Cultures, courtesy of the artist and the Griffin Museum of Photography.
Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, MA – Jerry Takigawa explores his grandparents’ demeaning experience in the internment camps where Japanese-American citizens were held during World War II. The hardships endured are illuminated by piecing together photographs, artifacts and memories in his series Balancing Cultures (above). In addition, the museum presents Anonymous, a series of reimagined vintage portraits by Edie Bresler and Claudia Ruiz Gustafson’s Historias Fragmentadas, which mines the grief and longing for the artist’s late grandmother and her Peruvian roots, and the winner of the John Chervinsky Emerging Photographer Award, Tavon Taylor’s The Last Rose of Summer. All four exhibits are on view through May 23rd 2021.
To read our review: https://www.whatwillyouremember.com/jerry-takigawa-balancing-cultures-claudia-ruiz-gustafson-historias-fragmentadas-edie-bresler-anonymous-at-griffin-museum-of-photography-ma/
Opening in late May, the Griffin will be presenting Spirit: Focus on Indigenous Art, Artists and Issues which will include photographs by Tonita Cervantes, Jeremy Dennis, Pat Kane, Meryl McMaster, Shelley Niro, Kali Spitzer & Bubzee, Will Wilson, Kilii Yuyan and Donna Garcia, who curated the exhibition. Three additional shows, At the Edge of the Fens by Jacqueline Waters, Now is Always by Vaune Trachtman and Our Mothers Gardens by Alayna Pernell will also be on view from May 26th through July 9th, 2021.
For more information and to make a reservation to visit: https://griffinmuseum.org
Hong Lei “Speak Memory” 2005, six color photographs, gift of Dr. Anthony Terrana, installation photograph by Suzanne Révy.
Fitchburg Art Museum, Fitchburg, MA– FAM has reopened to the public, showcasing recent acquisitions in their ongoing two part exhibition called The Big Picture: Giant Photographs and Powerful Portfolios featuring large prints in the first part and a selection of portfolios in the second. Prints measuring up to six by eight feet offer a visually stimulating antidote to the small screen blues that have dominated our recent views of photography, with work by a global list of photographers alongside New England artists Laura McPhee and Brian Ulrich. In addition, the museum is presenting a selection of portfolios, from the classic black and whites of André Kertesz to the quirky street pictures of Ruben Natal-San Miguel and Steve Locke’s penetrating portfolio, Family Pictures, which addresses the history of racism. The Big Picture: Giant Photographs and Powerful Portfolios will be on view through June 6th, 2021. For more information go to: https://fitchburgartmuseum.org
To read our review: https://www.whatwillyouremember.com/the-big-picture-giant-photographs-and-powerful-portfolios-at-fitchburg-art-museum/
ROAD TRIP!
Donna Ferrato, selections from the series Living with the Enemy, courtesy of the artist and the Newport Art Museum.
Newport Art Museum, Newport, Rhode Island – Selections from Donna Ferrato’s seminal book, Living with the Enemy, probing the challenges women face under the threat of domestic violence and the repercussions of breaking free. Ferrato’s decades-long advocacy has resulted in funding for shelters and education and this exhibition features selections that have been donated to the museum’s permanent collection. On view through June 6th, 2021. For more information: https://newportartmuseum.org
Rhode Island Center for Photographic Arts, Providence, RI – We were delighted to be jurors for “A New Leaf.” The exhibition reflects our growing optimism as brighter, warmer days and an end to the pandemic come into view. We were drawn to imagery that expresses a sense of connection, renewal, and hope. Some selections are joyful declarations while others are muted and ephemeral. Whether elegantly descriptive or interpretive, comprised of single or multiple frames, rendered in black and white or color, we chose works that we felt possess a strong vision. On view from May 20th through June 11th, 2021. We hope to see you (on the early side) at the Opening Reception on Thursday, May 20th, 2021 from 2:00 – 8:00 pm.
For more information: https://www.riphotocenter.org/a-new-leaf-call-for-entries-with-elin-spring-suzanne-revy/
“Maya Williams” by Séan Alonzo Harris from the exhibit The Space Between courtesy of the artist and Cove Street Arts.
Cove Street Arts, Portland, ME – Inspired by the writings of Ralph Ellison, The Space Between features street pictures, urban landscapes and studio portraits by Séan Alonzo Harris made over the past five years in Portland, Maine. Curated by Bruce Brown, Harris brings attention to overlooked communities in an effort to make the varied and full humanity of his subjects visible and endow each with agency. On view through June 26th, 2021.
For more information: https://www.covestreetarts.com/exhibitions-1/thespacebetween
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