Light Work's upcoming exhibition, Soldier, features the work of renowned photographer Suzanne Opton. The thought-provoking, yet subtle portraits present a different impression of the war in Iraq by giving viewers a rare close-up look at some of the men and women who have served their country.
The exhibition features large-format color photographs of the faces of soldiers, evoking a sense of dreaming but also hinting at the transformative experiences of war. Opton has taken the otherwise loaded idea of soldiers and warfare out of a political context and placed it into a silent dialogue from one human being to the next. She says of the images, "I wanted to see beyond the uniform and make vulnerable portraits of individual soldiers." The photographs in this exhibition were taken in a temporary studio at Fort Drum, New York.
Simultaneous with the gallery exhibition, Light Work will present Opton's portraits in the form of billboards in downtown Syracuse and along State Route 690. This added venue will afford the statue-like heads of soldiers a wider audience.
Vicki Goldberg, renowned art critic and author, will present a lecture considering Opton's portraits in the context of the history of war photography. Members of the military and particularly individuals who posed for the portraits have been invited to the lecture a reception, both to honor the soldiers and to invite a dialogue between the worlds of art and military.
Opton is known for her imaginative portraits, and approaches her subject matter from unusual perspectives. Her work has been exhibited worldwide, and she has received grants from the Vermont Council on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York Foundation for the Arts, and the Vermont Council on the Arts. She teaches at the Cooper Union and the International Center of Photography in New York. She participated in Light Work's Artist-in-Residence program in September 2005.
A competitive grant from the Central New York Community Foundation has made it possible to extend the programming for this exhibition. The exhibition catalogue will feature Opton's black-and-white portraits to give further insight into her captivating work.
Also on view at this time is the Newhouse Photography Annual, featuring the work of Syracuse University students studying photography and advertising in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. Vicki Goldberg's lecture and a gallery reception will be held on Thursday, April 6, 2006. The lecture will begin at 5:30pm, with the reception immediately following until 8pm. The exhibition, lecture, and reception are free and open to the public. The gallery hours for this exhibition are Monday–Friday, 10am–6pm, and by appointment. To schedule an appointment, please call 315-443-1300. Light Work is a non-profit, artist-run organization dedicated to the support of artists working in photography and electronic media. For information contact Light Work at 443-1300.
Press images available.
Contact Jessica Heckman at jhheckma@syr.edu to obtain a digital copy via email. |
