By Elin Spring and Suzanne Révy
Could the world be more turbulent? Best not to answer. Between the pandemic, persistent racial injustices, protests, a divisive election season and what promises to be an even more polarizing Supreme Court appointment, our society seems to be spinning out of control. Amidst the cacophony, museums and galleries are beginning to open back up. We are excited and relieved to highlight exhibits you can view in person during the month of October in and around Boston. Some take the pulse of our current affairs while others devote themselves to the contemplation of other times and places. All promise to help us reflect on our lives during this surreal period.
SOWA – Boston’s Art Gallery District in the South End

“Daughter of Thistles” 2020 by Astrid Reischwitz, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.
Gallery Kayafas – Memories resound through the current gathering of four engrossing exhibitions on view through October 17th, 2020: Astrid Reischwitz’s The Fabric of Memory (above); John Willis’ Requiem for the Innocent: El Paso and Beyond (a multi-sensory installation in collaboration with composer Matan Rubinstein and poet Robin Behn) and Mni Wiconi: Honoring the Water Protectors; and Vanessa Leroy’s there’s a place i want to take you. It is a joyful and reverent experience to see these exhibits in person (see gallery hours, below).
To read our review, go to: https://www.whatwillyouremember.com/committed-to-memory/

“American Spirit, Waynesboro, PA” from the series Mason-Dixon: American Fictions by Bill Franson, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.
From October 23rd through November 28th, 2020 at Gallery Kayafas, two solo photography shows invite us to consider revealing and remarkable aspects of American life: Bruce Myren’s Fort Juniper (Feature Image) and Bill Franson’s Mason-Dixon: American Fictions (above). Gallery Kayafas is open Wednesdays – Saturdays from 11:00 am – 5:30 pm and appointments are encouraged, as gallery occupancy is limited. For more information, go to: http://www.gallerykayafas.com/

“Facial Recognition: Border Guard Exam: Blue Eyes (die Blauen Augen)” 2019 from the series A THIN GREEN LINE: Borderlands by Bonnie Donohue, courtesy of the artist and Kingston Gallery, Boston.
Kingston Gallery – Bonnie Donohue’s longtime exploration of borderlands across the world recently brought her to sites along the European Green Belt, a completely demilitarized green space along the 12,000 km location of the former Soviet Cold War barrier known as the Iron Curtain. With aerial views of the Green Belt and photographic collages created from 1960s-era German border guard training manuals that recall the eerie, early days of facial recognition technology, A THIN GREEN LINE: Borderlands is a continuing reminder of the fragility and vulnerability of borders. On view through November 1st, 2020. There will be a socially distanced Opening Reception on First Friday, October 2nd, 2020 from 5:00 – 8:00pm. For more information, go to: http://www.kingstongallery.com/exhibitions/2020/september-bonnie-donohue-a-thin-green-line-borderlands.php
BOSTON PROPER

Debi Cornwall “Dara Lam Village” 2017 from the series and book Necessary Fictions (Radius, 2020) courtesy of the artist and Leica Gallery Boston.
Leica Gallery, Boston – The Leica Women Foto Project was launched last year to promote “the expansion and diversity of inclusion in photography.” In their first year, they have chosen three women for a grant and the loan of a camera to further projects that address topical issues around identity and culture: Yana Paskova, Debi Cornwall (above) and Eva Woolridge. The exhibit has been extended, due to the pandemic-induced closure earlier this year. To read our review, go to: https://www.whatwillyouremember.com/leica-women-foto-project-yana-paskova-debi-cornwall-eva-woolridge/
For gallery/store hours and information, go to: https://leicagalleryboston.com/exhibitions/
CAMBRIDGE

“Sudhayl in Central Square, June 6, 2020” Pandemic Day 79 from the Pandemic Portrait Project by Mark Ostow, courtesy of the artist.
Bridge Gallery – In a continuation of their inventive gallery window shows, Mark Ostow’s expansive and compelling Unmasked: A Daily Search for Normal Life in Abnormal Times will be displayed in a rotation of grids, viewable from the street at 5 Pemberton Street, Cambridge, through October 31st, 2020. For more information, go to: https://www.bridge.photos/shows

“Guoda, Lithuania, Marconi’s Beach Outfitters, Wellfleet, MA” from the series and book I’m Not On Your Vacation (Kehrer, 2020) by Brian Kaplan, courtesy of the artist.
Photographic Resource Center (PRC, Boston) – Alas, the PRC’s EXPOSURE 2020 exhibit has been moved online due to Covid-19 closures of Lesley University’s galleries. While we don’t usually cover online shows, there will be a Virtual Opening Reception on Wednesday, October 7th from 7:00 – 8:00pm featuring a discussion between this year’s juror, Makeda Best, Richard L. Menschel Curator of Photography, Harvard Art Museums, and Elin Spring, Founder & Editor of WWYR?. The event will celebrate the fourteen exhibiting photographers, exploring themes in the show and ways the images speak to one another. There will be ample opportunity for attendees to converse with both speakers and featured photographers. To register for this free event, go to: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/exposure-2020-online-opening-reception-tickets-120626139029
THE BURBS

“Untitled #13, Groveland Park, IL” from the series Stranger Fruit ©Jon Henry, courtesy of the artist.
Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, MA – From October 1st – October 23rd, 2020 the Main Gallery plays host to the 2020 Arnold Newman Prize For New Directions in Photographic Portraiture Exhibition, featuring this year’s $20K awardee Jon Henry (above) whose series Stranger Fruit delivers piercing commentary on America’s ingrained police violence toward black men. Also on view are the works of Newman Award Finalists Michael Darough, Rubén Salgado Escudero and Priya Kambli. There will be a free Virtual Reception with the jurors and artists on Thursday, October 8th, 2020 at 7:00pm. For more information about the exhibit and to register for the reception, go to: https://griffinmuseum.org/show/2020-arnold-newman-prize-new-directions-photographic-portraiture-exhibition/

“Happy” 2018, from the series and book Palm Springs Modern Dogs at Home (Schiffer Books, 2020) by Nancy Baron, courtesy of the artist and Griffin Museum of Photography.
Also on view through October 23rd, 2020, in the Griffin Atelier Gallery, veteran street photographer Rick Ashley combines his longtime infatuation with the city of Rome and his love of dogs in Cani di Roma. Because they are welcomed everywhere, dogs have always found their way into Ashley’s photographs “but in the last few years (they) have become principle actors” highlighting the myriad ways their companionship and antics are interwoven into our lives. In the Griffin Gallery, Nancy Baron (above) expands her ode to mid-century modern American design in Palm Springs Modern Dogs at Home, picturing the “desert pets that are as lovingly groomed and cared-for as their surroundings…and putting these precious pups in the spotlight, where they belong.” There will be a free Virtual Reception with the artists on Sunday, October 4th, 2020 at 7:00 pm. To register, go to: https://griffinmuseum.org/event/baron_ashleytalk-reception/
To read our review, go to: https://www.whatwillyouremember.com/nancy-baron-palm-springs-modern-dogs-at-home-rick-ashley-cani-di-roma-at-griffin-museum-of-photography-ma/

From the series and book Women in Pants by Catherine Smith, courtesy of the artist.
Danforth Art, Framingham State University – To honor the one-hundredth anniversary of the passage of the 19th amendment giving (white) women the right to vote, the Danforth presents Catherine Smith: A Cabinet of Curiosities, which includes her collection of nineteenth century photographs that were the basis of her book Women in Pants. The photographs will be presented in conversation with works from the museum’s permanent collection. The exhibition will be on view through February 28th, 2021. For more information go to: https://danforth.framingham.edu

The Big Picture: Giant Photographs and Powerful Portfolios at the Fitchburg Art Museum featuring (left to right) “Jesus” by Matt Silber, “VII from the series Once Upon a Time” by Ambra Polidori, “Six Hundred Things (Pinghu Lu)” by Greg Girard and “Patrice Ngolo, the Sapeur” by Hector Mediavilla. (Installation photograph by Suzanne Révy)
Fitchburg Art Museum (FAM), Fitchburg, MA – FAM will be showcasing recent acquisitions in a 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, featuring 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; admission to the museum is free through October 2nd, 2020. For more information go to: https://fitchburgartmuseum.org
ROAD TRIP!

Andy Warhol “Self-Portrait (Fright Wig), 1986, Silkscreen ink and acrylic paint on linen canvas, 12 x 12 inches. Collection, Robert Lococo, St. Louis ©1986, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc./ Licensed by Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
Newport Art Museum, Newport, R. I. – Andy Warhol: Big Shot focuses on the famed conceptual artist’s photography, specifically work made with Polaroid Big Shot and SX-70 cameras. Warhol’s masses of instant photographs served as a diary documenting friends and events, as inspiration for commercial and personal work, and as experiments in self-portraiture that forecast the popularity of today’s ubiquitous “selfies” on social media. Additionally, the exhibit brings together a selection of Warhol’s Polaroids with the final works they generated, along with some photo booth portraits and his rare, stitched photographs. On view in the museum’s Cushing Building through December 20th, 2020. For more information, go to: https://newportartmuseum.org/exhibitions/warhol/
Rhode Island Center for Photographic Arts (RICPA), Providence R.I. – Back in 2018, photographers Ellen Feldman and Marky Kauffmann assembled Moved to Act!, a traveling exhibition and eventual book that featured images from the Women’s Marches of 2017, March for Our Lives, Standing Rock and Black Lives Matter protests. Now they have resurrected the show and included images from recent Black Lives Matter/Justice for George Floyd protests, the Climate Strikes of 2019, and March For Science. Featuring the work of 41 photographers from all over the country, the exhibit will be on view in the gallery by appointment (as well as online) from October 15th – November 13th, 2020, with an Opening Reception on Thursday, October 15th, 2020 from 5:00 – 9:00pm. For information about the exhibit, gallery hours, appointments and programming, go to: https://www.riphotocenter.org/moved-to-act-demonstrations-marches-political-actions/

Feature Image: “170 Market Hill Road” from the series Fort Juniper by Bruce Myren, courtesy of the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston.