By Elin Spring and Suzanne Révy
We may be losing light but an exciting variety of photography exhibits and events around Boston and New England this month should brighten your days! We feature them here geographically, for your planning convenience. Please feel free to check back throughout the month for updates and additions.
SOWA- Boston’s South End Arts District
“Lovers” by Caleb Cole from the exhibition Collective Feelings, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.
Gallery Kayafas – In the solo exhibit Collective Feelings, Caleb Cole deploys his creative powers in photography, collage, assemblage, and video to juxtapose images and objects from different time periods. The emergent conversations prompt viewers to consider the lineage of queer culture and engage the act of looking backward at a fraught, often violent history to imagine possibilities for new queer futures. On view in all three galleries through December 4th, 2021, there will be an Artist Reception on First Friday November 5th, 2021 from 5:30 – 8:00 pm.
THIS SATURDAY! November 6th from 3:30 – 5:00 pm, join Caleb Cole in discussion with Gordon Dearborn Wilkins, Robert M. Walker Associate Curator of American ArtAddison Gallery of American Art, Andover, MA, in the gallery and on Zoom. Masks are required in the gallery. To join on Zoom, go to: https://bccte.zoom.us/j/93924467135?pwd=MkdIbnB1Q1M5L1BmYm9UR05TcVEydz09#success Meeting ID: 939 2446 7135 // Passcode: 247943
For more information: https://www.gallerykayafas.com
BOSTON PROPER
“Hair Advertisement” 2005, by Deana Lawson, pigment print. Courtesy the artist; Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York; and David Kordansky, Los Angeles. © Deana Lawson
Institute of Contemporary Art – The first museum survey dedicated to the work of Deana Lawson comes to the ICA. Known for portraits featuring both family and strangers, Lawson employs a variety of photographic languages including the family album, studio portraits, constructed pictures and appropriated imagery to challenge conventions regarding representation of Black life. Her aim is to impart a sense of beauty, power and intelligence to the everyday experiences of Black Americans. On view from November 4th, 2021 through February 22nd, 2022.
For more information: https://www.icaboston.org/exhibitions/deana-lawson
“Girl with Horse” by Mary Aiu, from the series Of Horse and Human, courtesy of the artist and the Griffin Museum of Photography.
The Griffin Museum at Lafayette City Center – Once Upon a Time invites viewers to write a story inspired by one of the pictures in this exhibition featuring dozens of photographs selected for their narrative possibilities. The Museum will later host an event for writers to read their stories as the photographs are projected. Jurors for the writing, Cassandra Goldwater and Jill Frances Johnson, will award cash prizes. On view from November 18th, 2021 through February 19th 2022 with a reception planned for January 9th, 2022.
For more information: https://griffinmuseum.org
From the exhibition She by Rania Matar at the Robert Klein Gallery, installation photograph by Suzanne Révy.
Robert Klein Gallery – In her solo exhibit and new book SHE (Radius, 2021), Rania Matar’s sensitive and lyrical individual portraits of young women from the U.S. and Middle East embrace the fragility and hope that attends coming of age in today’s geopolitical climate. On view through December 15th, 2021, by appointment.
Also on view at RKG through December 15th by appointment, The Fine Print, a curated selection of photographs by master darkroom printers, such as Paul Caponigro and Jerry Uelsmann.
For information, go to: https://www.robertkleingallery.com/
“Two Pears, Cushing, Maine, 1999” © Paul Caponigro, courtesy of Robert Klein Gallery, Boston.
“Shoals-Rocks and Water 36, 2021” by Alexandra de Steiguer, courtesy of the artist and Pucker Gallery, Boston.
Pucker Gallery – Alexandra de Steiguer’s dramatic black and white landscapes made in remote areas of Scotland, Ireland and on the Isles of Shoals, where she lives as a caretaker each winter, express “The Essence of Belonging” with reverent and stunning beauty. On view through November 28th, 2021, the exhibit is presented with the ceramic sculptures of Hongwei Li.
For more information: https://www.puckergallery.com
“Brenda Diana Duff Frazier, 1938 Debutante of the Year, at home, Boston, Mass” 1966 by Diane Arbus (American, 1923–1971), photograph, gelatin silver print, gift of Jeffrey Fraenkel and Frish Brandt, Courtesy Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston – Treat yourself to Personal and Political: Women Photographers, 1965-1985, the 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 Diane Arbus (above), Sally Mann, Annie Leibovitz, Cindy Sherman and Ming Smith, as well as recently acquired works by under-recognized photographers from the Americas, such as Adriana Lestido. On view through November 28th, 2021.
To read our review, go to: https://www.whatwillyouremember.com/personal-and-political-women-photographers-1965-1985-at-mfa-boston/
For information, go to: https://www.mfa.org/exhibition/women-take-the-floor
CAMBRIDGE AND SOMERVILLE
Sim Chi Yin, Singaporean (b. Singapore 1978), Mountain range surrounding the Nevada Test Site, November 2017. From the series Most People Were Silent. Archival pigment print. Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Richard and Ronay Menschel Fund for the Acquisition of Photographs, 2020.181. © Sim Chi Yin; image courtesy of the artist.
Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge – “Devour the Land: War and American Landscape Photography since 1970” considers how contemporary photographers have responded to the US military’s impact on the domestic environment. Assembled by Makeda Best, Harvard Art Museums Richard L. Menschel Curator of Photography, the expansive exhibit features over 160 photographs by 60 artists across six thematic groupings, presenting a wide range of views, such as that of Shun Chi Yin (above), which addresses the tensions between beauty of the vast western landscape and its use as a nuclear testing ground. Creatively conceived and presented,“Devour the Land” raises awareness of the ways violence and warfare surround us, in a selection of images from artists including Robert Adams, Terry Evans, Lucas Foglia, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Susan Meiselas, Richard Misrach, Steven Tourlentes, Alex Webb and Will Wilson, to name a few. On view by advance reservation through January 16th, 2022.
To read our review: https://www.whatwillyouremember.com/devour-the-land-at-the-harvard-art-museums-cambridge-ma/
For more information about this exhibit, go to: https://harvardartmuseums.org/exhibitions/5877/devour-the-land-war-and-american-landscape-photography-since-1970
Installation of the Autumn 2021 Curated Fridge, courtesy of Yorgos Efthymiadis.
The Curated Fridge, Somerville – Warming up for her upcoming position as Executive Director of the Griffin Museum, Crista Dix served as the RefridgeCurator for the autumn installment of this quarterly exhibition brought to us by Yorgos Efthymiadis. And they are happy to return to in-person openings, which will be held on Saturday, November 13th from 3:00 to 5:00pm. Event details: https://www.facebook.com/events/1732062416990990?ref=newsfeed
For more information: https://www.thecuratedfridge.com
THE BURBS
(Feature Image) From the series Twin Houses of the Great Northeast by Ira Wagner, courtesy of the artist and the Griffin Museum of Photography.
The Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, MA – “Home Views” presents a broad interpretation of structures, dwellings and the domestic spaces we share with family or neighbors. Featuring the work of eleven photographers in ten solo shows plus one video: Joy Bush, Anton Gautama, Judi Iranyi, Charles Mintz, Colleen Mullins, Roberta Neidigh, Jane Szabo, Brandy Trigueros, Kathleen Tunnel Handel, Ira Wagner and Melanie Walker. On view through December 5th, 2021.
For more information: https://griffinmuseum.org
“Lenore” from the series and book Major Arcana by Frances Denny, courtesy of the artist and ClampArt, NYC.
Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA– As a descendent of both the accusers and those accused of witchcraft in the Salem Witch Trials of 1692, photographer Frances Denny explores the face of modern American witchcraft in Major Arcana, her series of portraits including healers, artists and tarot readers across a spectrum of identities and spiritual practices. Thirteen of Denny’s portraits are featured in an expansive fall show at PEM, “The Salem Witch Trials: Reckoning and Reclaiming” on view through March 20th, 2022.
For more information about the exhibit, go to: https://www.pem.org/exhibitions/the-salem-witch-trials-reckoning-and-reclaiming
“Remnants Betty” by Greg Sands, courtesy of the artist and The Photographic Resource Center, Cambridge, MA.
Photographic Resource Center at the Fuller Craft Museum, Brockton, MA – PRC guest curator Sage Brousseau brings together photographers who employ textile design such as embroidery, stitching or weaving in crafting prints addressing memory, identity and history in Hand Eye Coordination. In collaboration with the Fuller Museum of Craft in Brockton, the artists include Lala Abaddon, Edie Bresler, Katherine Chudy, Lauren Davies, Letitia Huckaby, Kyle Meyer, Astrid Reischwitz, Chelsea Revelle, Greg Sand, Charlotte Schmid-Maybach, Heather Evans Smith and Liz Steketee. On view from through December 5th 2021, an online reception is planned for November 18th, 2021 at 7:00pm.
For more information: https://www.prcboston.org/hand-eye-coordination/
“Blue Handkerchief, Red Handkerchief” 1977 by Hal Fischer, from the series Gay Semiotics, courtesy of the artist, Project Native Informant, London, and the Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, MA.
Addison Gallery of American Art, Andover, MA – Language, Sequence, Structure: Photographic Works by Lew Thomas, Donna-Lee Phillips, and Hal Fischer presents a trio of Bay area photographers who sought to infuse conceptualism into photography in an attempt to disrupt the emotional tenor prevalent in the west coast aesthetic of the late 70’s. All the prints in this show were recently acquired by the Addison and they expand on an exhibit last year at SFMoMA called Thought Pieces which brought the trio’s work together for the first time in thirty years. On view through January 23rd, 2022.
For more information: https://addison.andover.edu/Exhibitions/LSSPhoto/Pages/default.aspx?in=Upcoming+Exhibitions
From the series Hidden Waters by Bremner Benedict, courtesy of the artist and Sun Stone Studio, W. Concord, MA.
Sun Stone Studio, W. Concord – Classic and alternative photographs presented in conversation between Bremner Benedict’s desert landscapes, Cynthia Katz’s cyanotypes and encaustics, photographs and hand-made paper by Fay Senner. On view through December 30th, 2021. An opening reception is planned for Thursday November 11th from 5:30 to 7:30pm.
“Projecting Italy” by Abelardo Morell (American, b. Cuba 1948) at the Fitchburg Art Museum. (Installation photograph by Suzanne Révy)
Fitchburg Art Museum, Fitchburg, MA – The master of the camera obscura, Abelardo Morell comes to the Fitchburg Art Museum with Projecting Italy. Morell’s use of this ancient technique brings Italian vistas into sumptuous rooms to honor the twentieth anniversary of the Center for Italian Culture at Fitchburg State University. On view through January 2nd, 2022.
For more information: https://fitchburgartmuseum.org/projecting-italy/
To read our review: https://www.whatwillyouremember.com/projecting-italy-by-abelardo-morell-at-fitchburg-art-museum/
“Oak Street” 2017 by Justin Kimball from the series Elegy, courtesy of the artist and the Mead Art Museum, Amherst College.
Mead Art Museum, Amherst College, Amherst, MA – Amherst College student photographer Jonathan Mark Jackson and his mentor, photography professor Justin Kimball create a visual and historical conversation in their exhibit, The Room that Grew. Jackson’s ancestor, Robert Roberts, was the first African-American to publish a commercial book, The House Servants Directory. Inspired by this primer for domestic workers, Jackson’s photographs interact with Kimball’s images from his series and book, Elegy, looking at the economic impacts of the 2008 market crash on small towns in the northeast. On view through January 22nd, 2022.
For more information: https://www.amherst.edu/museums/mead/exhibitions/2021/a-room-that-grew
ROAD TRIP!
Rhode Island
“Ravi and Gouthami” by Mary Beth Meehan, from the series Silicon Valley, installation view on the Watson Institute at Brown University, photograph courtesy of the artist.
Watson Institute at Brown University, Providence RI- Photographer Mary Beth Meehan has installed eight mural-sized portraits made in conjunction with her book Seeing Silicon Valley on the outside Brown’s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs. In addition, four-feet-high prints of other people of Silicon Valley are being installed inside Stephen Robert Hall at 280 Brook Street. Meehan focused her attention on middle class workers to offer alternative narratives to the tropes of wealth privilege in that region. Her portraits reveal the humanity of those workers and offers viewers a way to consider the economic, cultural and social dynamics behind the social media giants and computer hardware companies. On view through 2022.
For more information: https://watson.brown.edu/news/explore/2021/SeeingSiliconValley
“Sneha” 2010, framed digital photo animation on iPad, from the series Re-Generations by Annu Palakunnathu Matthew, courtesy of the artist, Newport Art Museum and sepiaEYE, NYC.
Newport Art Museum, Newport, RI – ReVision, an expansive and mind-expanding mid-career retrospective of photography-based works by artist Annu Palakunnathu Matthews features six projects across three galleries, ranging from her dreamy Holga series Memories of India (begun in 1996), to her humorous and biting diptych series An Indian from India (2001-2008), to her affecting current work in The UnRemembered, featuring installations of video and stunning projections in crystal that will take your breath away. On view through January 9th, 2022.
To read our review, go to: https://www.whatwillyouremember.com/annu-palakunnathu-matthew-solo-show-re-vision-at-newport-art-museum-in-rhode-island/
For information, go to: https://newportartmuseum.org/exhibitions/revision/
From the exhibit “All Together Now” at RICPA, photographer unknown.
Rhode Island Center for Photographic Arts (RICPA), Providence – Juried by Jan Howard, Curator of Prints, Drawings and Photographs at the RISD Museum, the group exhibition “All Together Now” explores ideas of community in this time of national turmoil. On through November 12th, 2021.
For more information, go to: https://www.riphotocenter.org/all-together-now-call-for-entries-with-jan-howard/
Maine
“Parked Car, Small Town, Maine Street” 1932 by Walker Evans, gelatin silver print, printed circa 1969 by Charles Rodemeyer. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of the artist, 1975. © 2021 Walker Evans Archive, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Portland Museum of Art, Portland, ME – To commemorate the 75th anniversary of Walker Evans’ landmark show at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City and the accompanying influential monograph, American Photographs, former MoMA curator Sarah Hermanson Meister along with Collections Specialist Tasha Lutek organized this selection of Evans’ pictures, on view through December 5th, 2021.
For more information: https://www.portlandmuseum.org/walker-evans
Vermont
From the exhibition Frost by Michael Poster, courtesy of the artist and the Vermont Center for Photography, Brattleboro, VT.
Vermont Center for Photography, Brattleboro, VT –Frost brings poet Melissa Whalen Haertsch and photographer Michael Poster together to present a series of sensitive portraits made in care facilities for elderly women, all the more poignant for their fragility and mortality. On view from November 3rd, 2021 through January 2nd, 2022, there will be an Opening Reception this Friday, November 5th, 2021 from 5:00 – 8:00 pm.
For more information: https://vcphoto.org
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