By Elin Spring and Suzanne Révy
November is serving up a menu of contrasts. Chilly weather and darker days are impending, almost as if the natural world is aligning itself with heartbreaking global events. At the same time, we are gathering with family and friends for Thanksgiving, a celebration of gratitude and human connection. Doesn’t it seem like we could use the magical sustenance of art more than ever? Our November Best Photo Picks features the most captivating exhibits and events around Boston and beyond, arranged geographically for your planning convenience. Please check back throughout the month for new exhibit openings and associated programming. May you find light, warmth and beauty during these dark times.
BOSTON PROPER
Feature Image: Sugimoto Hiroshi, Self-Portrait (detail), 1990. Gelatin silver print. Gift of Sylvan Barnet and William Burto. © Hiroshi Sugimoto, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco.
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA) – Creative Spaces: The Photographer’s Studio as Inspiration takes viewers behind the curtain in a gathering of the idea incubators and working environments of 20th and 21st century photographers who employ a range of approaches to the medium, including multiple exposures, photo collages, cyanotypes, Polaroids, and digital prints. On view from November 11th, 2023 – April 28th, 2024.
For more information, go to: https://www.mfa.org/exhibition/creative-spaces-the-photographers-studio-as-inspiration
“Bears Ears National Monument, 2022” from the series Day To Night by Stephen Wilkes, courtesy of Robert Klein Gallery, Boston.
Robert Klein Gallery – In his solo exhibition Gathering Time, Stephen Wilkes literally and figuratively extends his magnificent views from the renowned series Day To Night, his sweeping, immersive landscapes from locations across the globe. LAST CHANCE! On view through November 4th, 2023.
For more information about the exhibit and gallery hours, go to: https://www.robertkleingallery.com/exhibitions/76-stephen-wilkes-gathering-time-solo-exhibition/works/
“Untitled, 2020” from How Easily We Are Undone by Jennifer McClure, courtesy of the artist and Leica Gallery Boston.
Leica Gallery Boston – In her solo exhibition How Easily We Come Undone, photographer Jennifer McClure explores with poignancy and cinematic drama her personal struggles, longings and hopes amidst new motherhood and the pandemic’s social upheavals. On view through January 28th, 2024.
For more information about this exhibit or a Weekend Workshop with the artist on December 8th-10th, 2023, go to: https://leicagalleryboston.com/
Washington Street, Adams Square, May 23, 1962. Gelatin silver print by Irene Shwachman, courtesy Boston Athenaeum.
Boston Athenaeum (BA) – Famed documentary photographer Berenice Abbott is known for her commissioned photographs of NYC in the 1930’s but that assignment included other east coast cities like Boston, which she photographed with her characteristically empirical focus on composition. Thirty years later, Boston-based photographer Irene Shwachman, a onetime student of Abbott’s who photographed alongside, and even worked for a time as Abbott’s darkroom printer, diverged from her teacher’s approach as she created “The Boston Document” (1959-1968). Her lively, subjective lens highlighted the city’s 1960’s urban renewal projects, such as the demolition of the West End and erection of the Prudential Center. Exhibited together for the first time, Abbott and Shwachman elucidate seminal periods in Boston’s history with distinctive perspectives. Extending the timeline into the present, the Athenaeum has partnered with teen photographers of Artists For Humanity and displays their pictures at the entry to the gallery. Their images of Boston neighborhoods over the past two years offer fresh perspectives that broaden understanding of the city’s history. On view through December 30th, 2023.
To read our review, go to: https://www.whatwillyouremember.com/developing-boston-berenice-abbott-and-irene-shwachman-photograph-a-changing-city-at-boston-athenaeum/
For more information about the exhibit, go to: https://bostonathenaeum.org/blog/exhibition-abbott-schwachman/
“Talk Is Cheap” by Ted Gartland, courtesy of the artist and Panopticon Gallery, Boston.
Panopticon Gallery – From the 1970’s to the present, Boston Globe photographer Ted Gartland has chronicled every concert performed here by the Rolling Stones. His dynamic images are on view in All Down the Line: The Rolling Stones in Boston. On view through November 15th, 2023.
For more information, go to: https://www.panopticongallery.com/ted-gartland
Pictures and Progress, MassArt Photo Alumni show.
Doran Gallery at MassArt – Pictures and Progress features a stellar cast of MassArt alums in a show curated by Claude Eshun assisted by Elizabeth Hopkins and Natalie Brescia with Claire Beckett, Kannetha Brown, Yoav Horesh, Kathya Landeros, Vanessa LeRoy, Nigel Poor, Camilo Ramirez, Eduardo Rivera, Tavon Taylor and Zhidong Zhang. On view through November 19th, 2023, there will be a Reception with the artists on Tuesday, November 7th at 7:30pm.
For more information: https://massart.edu/galleries/doran-gallery
CAMBRIDGE
“Two Shehuo performers adjust each other’s costumes, Huanghuaya Village, Shaanxi Province (Shaanxi series No.2)” 2007, by Zhang Xiao, courtesy of the artist and Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.
Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology at Harvard University – Photographer Zhang Xiao examines the effects of modernization on Chinese culture through the transformation of Shehuo: Community Fire, a traditional spring festival held in rural northern China that coincides with the Lunar New Year. Zhang, the 11th recipient of the Peabody Museum’s Robert Gardner Fellowship in Photography, documents the ancient festivities in 2007 and its commercialization a decade later in 2018 & 2019 with vivid and thought-provoking imagery. Accompanied by a book and additional programming, this English/ Chinese bilingual exhibit is on view through April 14th, 2024.
To read our review, go to: https://www.whatwillyouremember.com/zhang-xiao-shehuo-community-fire-reflects-a-changing-china-at-harvards-peabody-museum-in-cambridge-ma/
For more information about the exhibit and associated programming, go to: https://peabody.harvard.edu/shehuo-community-fire
For information about the Aperture book, go to: https://aperture.org/books/zhang-xiao-community-fire/
“Castle Island” by Jessica Rinaldi, courtesy of the artist and the Photographic Resource Center.
Photographic Resource Center (PRC, Boston) – For a Moment: Images from the Boston Photo League features features photojournalism and documentary work from members Lisa Abitbol, Jaypix Belmer, Darlene Devita, Marissa Fiorucci, Kate Flock, Collin Howell, Cassandra Klos, Meredith Nierman, Lauren Owens Lambert and Jessica Rinaldi. On view in the VanDernoot Gallery in Lesley’s University Hall weekends through November 18th, 2023.
For more information:https://www.prcboston.org/for-a-moment-images-from-the-boston-photo-league/
Film still from Stephen DiRado: Aquinna, courtesy of the artist and PRC, Boston.
Also at PRC, Boston – Stills: Photographer/Filmmakers is a companion exhibition to the October 28th event, Moving Pictures, a day of film and conversation, that featured short films by photographer/filmmakers Jaina Cipriano, Stephen DiRado (above), Henry Horenstein, and Nancy Grace Horton. Still photographs exhibited highlight the filmmakers’ work processes. On view through November 15th, 2023 in the lower level of Lesley’s University Hall.
For more information about the exhibition, go to: https://www.prcboston.org/stills-photographer-filmmakers/
SUBURBS
“Marine Art Works studios / Joanne Radmilovich Kollman’s studio / Aaron Kurzen’s studio” by Christopher Rauschenberg, 2018, 2018, 2014 from the series Studio Photographs, courtesy of the artist, the Griffin Museum of Photography and the Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, OR.
Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester – Christopher Rauschenberg explores the studios and spaces of painters and sculptors while Meggan Gould photographs the darkrooms of her photographic colleagues. Both explore the messes, detritus and ephemera of creative work in Leaving their Mark. On view through December 10th 2023 with an opening reception planned for this Saturday, November 4th from 4 to 6pm.
From the series Wig Heavier than a Boot by David Johnson and Philip Matthews, courtesy of the artists and the Griffin Museum of Photography.
From the series Other Stories by Cody Bratt, courtesy of the artist and the Griffin Museum of Photography.
Ongoing exhibitions at the Griffin Museum include a collaboration of photography, poetry and film between David Johnson and Philip Matthews called Wig Heavier than a Boot in the Griffin Atelier Gallery and Cody Bratt’s The Other Stories in the Griffin Gallery and Janice Koskey’s Illuminating the Archive in the Founder’s Gallery through December 10th, 2023.
For more information go to: https://griffinmuseum.org
“Untitled 6341” by Torrance York, 2020, from the series Semaphore, courtesy of the artist, Rick Wester Fine Art NYC and the Danforth Art Museum.
Danforth Art Museum, Framingham – Torrance York’s Semaphore is a nuanced meditation on quotidian details, created in response to her diagnosis with Parkinson’s Disease. In images inviting spiritual contemplation, York has found a way not only to cope, but to thrive in the face of a difficult life challenge. On view through January 28th, 2024.
To read our review: https://www.whatwillyouremember.com/torrance-york-semaphore-at-danforth-art-museum-in-framingham-ma/
For more information: https://danforth.framingham.edu
The Shelley Hoon Keith Gallery at Curry College, Milton – Olivia Parker’s ingenuity erupts again in her latest work and solo show, Persephone’s Graffiti, a “collaboration” between the artist and her backyard mushrooms. Each fall, they complete their life cycle with explosions of black spores, followed by inky effusions. Parker records the mushrooms’ death knells against white paper, as they reflect the blue sky above and insects leave their oblivious tracks. Parker’s spirited abstractions embrace visual and metaphoric contrasts, recognizing the transcendent beauty of life in the face of mortality. EXTENDED! On view through January 3rd, 2024.
For more information, go to: https://www.curry.edu/student-life/student-center/hoon-keith-quiet-study-lounge
“Josh and Bre” by Courtney D. Garvin, 2015, from the series In These Clasped Hands, courtesy of the artist and Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA.
Peabody Essex Museum, Salem – Organized by the Aperture Foundation, As We Rise: Photography from the Black Atlantic is the year’s can’t-miss, blockbuster exhibit. Drawn from Dr. Kenneth Montague’s “Wedge Collection” (named for the shape of his home gallery) in Toronto, As We Rise is dedicated to artists of African descent. Highlighting themes of community, identity and power, this inspired collection features over one hundred works by artists such as Texas Isaiah, Gordon Parks, Dawoud Bey, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Seydou Keita, Michele Pearson Clarke, Ruddy Roye, Hank Willis Thomas, Malick Sidibé, Dawit L. Petros, Deana Lawson, Carrie Mae Weems and Jamel Shabazz. On view through December 31st, 2023.
For our review, go to: https://www.whatwillyouremember.com/as-we-rise-photography-from-the-black-atlantic-wedge-collection-kenneth-montague-at-peabody-essex-museum-salem-ma-and-aperture-book/
For more information about the exhibit, book and associated programming, go to: https://www.pem.org
“Agricultural Panel B” by Archy LaSalle, center, flanked by color photographs by George Annan, Jr. and African artifacts from the Fitchburg Art Museum’s collection, on view in the “Diasporas” section of Dialogues, Diasporas, and Detours Through Africa. on view at the Fitchburg Art Museum. (Installation photograph by Suzanne Révy)
Fitchburg Art Museum (FAM), Fitchburg- The museum opens two multi-media shows with a large selection of photographs in each one. The first is Dialogues, Diasporas, and Detours Through Africa which includes photography by Archy LaSalle, George Annan, Lou Jones and Sharon Dunn in dialog with some of the museum’s collection of African sculpture and textiles. The second show, Capital Vice: Politics of the Seven Deadly Sins includes photographs from the collection by several local photographers such as Greer Muldowney and Barbara Norfleet, among others. On view through January 14th, 2024.
“Alae, Beirut, Lebanon, 2020” from SHE by Rania Matar, courtesy of the artist and Robert Klein Gallery, Boston.
Also at FAM– Rania Matar: Oceans at My Door celebrates the museum’s acquisition of the artist’s SHE portfolio. The exhibit includes new work from her more recent series, Where Do I Go?, an investigation of Lebanese women navigating the crossroads of a country in crisis. On view through January 7th, 2024.
To read our review: https://www.whatwillyouremember.com/rania-matar-oceans-at-my-door-at-fitchburg-art-museum-ma/
A talk with Rania Matar is scheduled for Saturday November 18th at 3:00pm followed at 6:00pm by A Night at the Museum: Evening in Red with special guests: photographer Rania Matar, Dell Hamilton, guest curator of Dialogues, Diasporas, and Detours Through Africa and several of the exhibiting artists.
For more information on all exhibitions and programming go to: https://fitchburgartmuseum.org/
De Menil Gallery at Groton School, Groton – Photographer Lou Jones is on a mission. By imbedding in each of the 54 countries of Africa, his panAfricaproject is creating a contemporary visual portrait of modern Africa, devoid of preconceived western notions of conflict, pestilence and poverty that most modern media promotes. Jones and his team illuminate the habitually unacknowledged workings of this progressive 21st century continent in dynamic, colorful and passionate imagery that mirrors the cultures that thrive there. On view through November 12th, 2023.
For more information, go to: https://www.groton.org/arts/visual-art/galleries
ROAD TRIP!
Connecticut
“Crush & Pull with Hands & Penlights” 2022, by Ellen Carey, courtesy of the artist, JHB Gallery, NYC, Galerie Miranda, Paris, and New Britain Museum of American Art, CT.
New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain – Ellen Carey: Struck by Light is a sweeping retrospective of Carey’s pioneering explorations of light, color, and shadow. Works include dazzling examples of her Polaroid 20 X 24 lens-based images and large-scale camera-less photograms that demonstrate Carey’s boldly experimental approach to image-making. On view through January 28th, 2024, Ellen Carey & John Reuter will be giving a Virtual Lecture on Sunday, November 5th at 2:00pm.
For free registration to the Virtual Lecture, go to: https://nbmaa.org/events/virtual-lecture-ellen-carey
For more information about the exhibit, go to: https://nbmaa.org/exhibitions/ellen-carey-struck-by-light
Rhode Island
“Brothers (Slaughter 1)” by Yasumasa Morimura, 1991, three silver dye bleach prints mounted panels with artist frame. (Installation photograph by Suzanne Révy)
RISD Museum, Providence – The Performative Self-Portrait considers the ways artists use self-portraiture to enact the self, question history, and articulate identity. Photographs in the exhibition range from the 1930’s to new acquisitions displayed for the first time, LAST CHANCE! on view through November 12th, 2023.
To read our review, go to: https://www.whatwillyouremember.com/the-performative-self-portrait-risd-museum-providence-ri/
For more information, go to: https://risdmuseum.org/exhibitions-events/exhibitions/performative-self-portrait
Courtesy of the Rhode Island Center for Photographic Arts.
Rhode Island Center for Photographic Art (RIPCA), Providence – Interlines, Lifelines, Redlines: Social Markers of Race, Class & Economics is a large group show juried by photographer Eric Kunsman. It aims to look at how the legacy of social documentary photography from luminaries making pictures for the FSA in the thirties inform contemporary photographers. LAST CHANCE! On view through November 10th, 2023.
For more information go to: https://www.riphotocenter.org
Maine
Unknown, Emancipation Day, Jamaica, August 1, circa 1895, two gelatin silver prints, 11 9/16 × 9 7/16 inches. Art Gallery of Ontario. Gift of Patrick Montgomery, through the American Friends of the Art Gallery of Ontario Inc., 2019. Photo © AGO. 2019/2704.
Portland Museum of Art, Portland – By bringing contemporary works into conversation with historic photographs from the Art Gallery of Ontario’s (AGO) Montgomery Collection of Caribbean Photographs Fragments of Epic Memory will immerse visitors in the Caribbean and its diaspora. The exhibition will engage personal memory and myth through past and present works of art curated by curated by Julie Crooks, PhD, Curator, Arts of Global Africa and the Diaspora at the Art Gallery of Ontario and the Portland Museum of Art’s Anjuli Lebowitz, PhD, the Judy Glickman Lauder Associate Curator of Photography. On view through January 7th, 2024.
For more information: https://www.portlandmuseum.org/fragments
“PerSlovak 2.0 Grid” by Yoav Horesh, 2023, courtesy of the artist and the Maine Jewish Museum.
Maine Jewish Museum, Portland – Yoav Horesh presents PerSlovak 2.0, a study of facial features among his extended family descended from a Persian-Jewish and Ashkenazi Jewish lineages. In addition to the series of fifty-five portraits, there will be an interactive component where visitors can create their own version from nine million possibilities for their own Jewish appearance. Horesh engages with the idea of a “melting pot” of Jews who came from around the world to settle in Israel after World War II. On view from November 2nd through January 5th, 2024.
For more information: https://mainejewishmuseum.org
“Against these Ruins” by Suzanne Theodora White, courtesy of the artist and the Maine Museum of Photographic Arts.
Maine Museum of Photographic Arts – Portland – Spiritual Ecology is an idea that proposes that there is a spiritual element related to efforts around conservation and environmentalism. The exhibition includes photographers engaging ideas around our earth’s stewardship. They are Cole Caswell, Sal Taylor Kydd, Suzanne Theodora White (photo), Brian Buckley, Susan Davens, Joyce Tenneson, Sue Michlovitz, Ted Anderson, Jessica Burko, DM Witman, Amisha Kashyap, Paul Rider, Eugene Cole and Deb Dawson. On view through December 2nd, 2023.
“Naptime” by Sally Mann, 1989, gelatin silver print, © Sally Mann, courtesy of the artist, Gagosian Gallery and the Bowdoin Museum of Art, Brunswick, Maine.
Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick – Through more than 120 photographs by more than four dozen leading contemporary artists, People Watching: Contemporary Photography Since 1965 explores the phenomenon of “people watching” as a recreational activity, an act of surveillance, a type of harassment, a sign of empathy, and a documentary form of expression. Well worth the drive. LAST CHANCE! On view through November 5th, 2023.
For our review, go to: https://www.whatwillyouremember.com/people-watching-contemporary-photography-since-1965-bowdoin-museum-of-art-brunswick-maine/
For more information, go to: https://www.bowdoin.edu/art-museum/exhibitions/2023/people-watching.html
Vermont
“Onlookers at the Unfinished Crazy Horse Memorial” by Epiphany Knedler, from the series Wish You Were Here, courtesy of the artist and the Vermont Center for Photography.
Vermont Center for Photography, Brattleboro – South Dakota based artist Epiphany Knedler photographs the plains of the midwest American states in Wish You Were Here. Often referred to as the “flyover,” Knedler engages with the mythologies promoted to tourists and road trippers while glossing over flawed narratives and histories. On view from November 3rd through December 31st. An opening reception is planned for tomorrow, November 3rd from 5 to 8pm.
For more information: https://vcphoto.org
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