Amy Elkins & Jen Davis—looking & looking
Exhibition Dates: January 17–March 8, 2012
Gallery Reception: February 23, 5–7 pm
Light Work is pleased to announce the exhibition Looking & Looking, featuring photographs by Jen Davis and Amy Elkins. Both artists create work that focuses on gaze and identity, with Davis looking at herself and Elkins looking at young male athletes. The images in the exhibition explore the perception of how men and women are supposed to appear in society—men should be strong and confident, women should be beautiful—and the crafting of a self-image.
Jen Davis creates self-portraits that deal with issues surrounding beauty, identity, and body image of women, and challenges the perceptions and stereotypes of how women should look in their physical appearances. Amy Elkins depicts the more aggressive, competitive, and violent aspects of male identity in her series Elegant Violence, which captures portraits of young Ivy League rugby athletes moments after their game. Elkins’ images explore the balance between athleticism, modes of violence or aggression, and varying degrees of vulnerability within a sport where brutal body contact is fundamental.
Both artists focus on the construction of identity—the players are astutely aware of how they are presenting themselves while Davis draws attention to her own self-image in a more emotional way. Shown together, the works of Davis and Elkins urge the viewer to consider expectations and perceptions (both societal and individual) of identity.
About the Artists
Jen Davis received her MFA from Yale University, and her BA from Columbia College Chicago. Her work has been exhibited internationally, including at Musée de l’Elysée in Lausanne, Switzerland; Joy Wei Gallery in New York; SI FEST: Savignano Immagini Festival in Italy; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Center for Photography at Woodstock; Stephen Daiter Gallery in Chicago, IL; Milwaukee Art Museum; and Galerie Priska Pasquer in Cologne, Germany, among others. Her photographs are in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, The Sir Elton John Photography Collection, and The Library of Congress. Davis is represented by Lee Marks Fine Art.
Amy Elkins received her BFA in Photography from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Her work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally, including shows at Kunsthalle Wien in Vienna, Austria; The PIP International Photo Festival in Pingyao, China; Gallery Elsa in Busan, South Korea; National Arts Club, Tina Kim Gallery, and Yancey Richardson Gallery in New York, among many others. Amy Elkins and Cara Phillips co-founded wipnyc.org, a platform for showcasing both established and emerging women in photography. Elkins is represented by Yancey Richardson Gallery in New York.
Also on view at this time is the exhibition Wounding the Black Male, featuring photographs from the Light Work Collection. The exhibition was co-curated by Cassandra Jackson and Sarah Cunningham, both from The College of New Jersey in Ewing, NJ.
Gallery hours for these exhibitions are Sunday to Friday, 10 am–6 pm (except school holidays), and by appointment. To schedule an appointment, please call 315-443-1300. Both the exhibition and reception are free and open to the public. Paid parking is available in Booth Parking Garage.
Light Work invites groups and individuals to schedule tours and gallery talks of the exhibition and facility. Light Work is a nonprofit, artist-run organization dedicated to the support of artists working in photography and electronic media. Light Work is a member of CMAC, the Coalition of Museum and Art Centers at Syracuse University.
For more information, please contact Jessica Reed at Light Work, 315-443-1300 or jhreed01@syr.edu.
Connect with Light Work on Facebook, Twitter, and More!
/in NewsWe’re happy to unveil our brand new Facebook Timeline this week!
If you haven’t already, connect with Light Work on Facebook to get the latest updates about our publications, residency program, artists, calls for entries, exclusive giveaways, and more!
You can also find Light Work on Twitter, Google+, Vimeo, and Pinterest. Help us spread the word by sharing these links with friends!
William Wegman at the Everson Museum
/in NewsLight Work is pleased to announce the Urban Video Project‘s collaboration with the Everson Museum of Art to realize a new video piece by artist William Wegman.
The video, “Flo Flow” (2011), is Wegman’s latest in a long line of human-canid collaborations. It was while he was in Long Beach in the 1970′s that Wegman got his dog, Man Ray, with whom he began a fruitful collaboration of many years. Man Ray, known in the art world and beyond for his endearing deadpan presence, became a central figure in Wegman’s photographs and videotapes. Ever since, Weimaraner-actors have peopled Wegman’s uncanny imaginative universe, a reflection on both the human-ness of ‘animals’ and the strangeness of humans.
The piece will be on view on the side of the Everson Museum of Art from March 1 – May 27, 2012. An artist talk will be held on April 10 at 6:30pm in the Everson auditorium.
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Don’t forget! Light Work’s 2012 Subscription Program include a beautiful, limited edition silver gelatin print by William Wegman. For more information or to purchase visit www.lightwork.org/buy
Find Light Work at SCOPE New York
/in Events, NewsLight Work visits SCOPE New York to feature the stunning prints and books from our 2012 Subscription Program, including a Master Print by renowned photographer William Wegman, as well as Fine Print Program prints by Kelli Connell, Tony Gleaton, and Susan Worsham. There will be many other prints available for purchase as well.
Stop by Booth # A29 to meet Program Manager Mary Lee Hodgens, Promotions Coordinator Jessica Reed, and Associate Director Shane Lavalette, hear about our programs, and support Light Work and artists by buying a print, book, or subscription to Contact Sheet, our journal featuring emerging photographers. Every penny we make at SCOPE Miami goes right back into our programming, which assists artists working in photography and electronic media through exhibitions, publications, artist residencies, and a community-access digital lab facility.
Military Visual Journalism
/in ExhibitionsThe exhibition features the work of ten photographers enrolled
in the Newhouse Military Photojournalism Program:
Ryan Courtade/USN, Christopher Lee Griffin/USAF, Venessa Hernandez/USA, Brian A. Lautenslager/USMC, Andrew J. Lee/USAF, Efrén López/USAF, Manuel J. Martinez/USAF, Kyle T. Ramirez/USMC, Justin Stumberg/USN, and Bobby J. Yarbrough/USMC.
Guest curated by Efrén López.
About the Military Visual Journalism Program at Syracuse University:
The Newhouse School is home to two Department of Defense sponsored programs which teach active-duty military personnel photojournalism and broadcast journalism. The Military Photojournalism (MPJ) and Military Motion Media (MMM) programs consist of students from the Navy, Marine Corps, Army and Air Force. These enlisted service members have been serving as mass communication specialists, combat photographers and military journalists. They come to the school for ten months to learn how to become better storytellers.
While at Newhouse, MPJ and MMM students earn 30 credit hours. Military students arrive in August for an intensive English and grammar refresher. Following this two-week course, students attend a one week workshop on photography before they begin classes in the regular semester. While most classes taken by MPJ and MMM students are exclusively for the 16 students in each program, for one class each semester the students are mixed with our regular student population for communication classes.
Light Work invites groups and individuals to schedule tours and gallery talks of the exhibition and facility. Light Work is a nonprofit, artist-run organization dedicated to the support of artists working in photography and electronic media. Light Work is a member of CMAC, the Coalition of Museum and Art Centers at Syracuse University.
For more information, please contact Jessica Reed at Light Work, 315-443-1300 or jhreed01@syr.edu.
Call for Entries: 2012 Light Work Student Invitational
/in Lab, NewsGenevieve Marshall, 2011 Best of Show – Selected by Amber Terranova (Editor,PDN)
The 2012 Light Work Student Invitational will feature a selection of photographs by Syracuse University students selected by our guest juror Jörg Colberg (Publisher and Editor,Conscientious). The selected images will be showcased on Light Work’s LCD screen from March – May 2012. Our guest juror will select the winner of Best of Show and Honorable Mentions. These students will be featured on the Light Work blog and an online exhibition.
Dr. Jörg M. Colberg was born in Germany in 1968. After obtaining his Ph.D., he moved to the United States in early 2000. Colberg is the Publisher and Editor of the popular website Conscientious, one of the most widely read blogs dedicated to contemporary photography.
All interested students should submit via email to shane@lightwork.org:
– 3 images, saved as .jpg, 72dpi, sRGB, and sized to 1,600px on the longest dimension. Title files: FirstnameLastname_01.jpg, FirstnameLastname_02.jpg, FirstnameLastname_03.jpg
– In the e-mail, include your name, major, grad/undergrad, e-mail, and phone number. Please follow the directions carefully. Incomplete submissions will not be considered.
DEADLINE: MARCH 1, 2012
* Download a PDF of the flyer here.
Cindy Sherman Retrospective Comes to MoMA
/in NewsThis month The Museum of Modern Art will be opening what is likely to be one of the most talked about exhibitions of the year, a large Cindy Sherman retrospective.
Sherman, now regarded one of the most important and influential artists, was in fact a Light Work Artist-in-Residence in 1981, featured in a Light Work Gallery exhibition in 1985, published in Contact Sheet, and has a few of her pieces included in the Light Work Collection!
Those of you in New York City, mark your calendars:
Cindy Sherman
February 26 – June 11, 2012
The Joan and Preston Robert Tisch Exhibition Gallery, sixth floor
Museum of Modern Art
New York, NY
More info about the exhibition here.
Here’s a visual overview of Sherman’s iconic film stills:
Win a FREE Signed Contact Sheet!
/in NewsIn conjunction with the launch of Keliy Anderson-Staley’s online gallery, Light Work is teaming up with Flak Photo to give away FREE signed copies of Keliy’s Contact Sheet.
Visit our Facebook page for details on how to enter!
(DEADLINE: Thursday, February 2, 2012)
Joni Sternbach's "SurfLand" at the Southeast Museum of Photography
/in NewsOn the topic of the lovely wet-plate collodion process, don’t miss past AIR Joni Sternbach‘s “SurfLand” exhibition, opening this Friday at the Southeast Museum of Photography!
Opening reception with artist talk and book signing: January 27 from 6-8pm
Keliy Anderson-Staley on Flak Photo
/in NewsMore great exposure for Keliy Anderson-Staley, as her work is featured in an online gallery on Flak Photo. Keliy’s tintypes are paired with an excellent essay by Geoffrey Batchen, from Contact Sheet 163 (available for purchase here).
Keliy Anderson-Staley in The New Yorker
/in NewsWe’re pleased see Keliy Anderson-Staley’s write-up in The New Yorker.
Her exhibition “[hyphen] AMERICANS” will be on view through February 9th at the Palitz Gallery at the Lubin House in NYC.
Amy Elkins & Jen Davis: looking & looking
/in ExhibitionsLight Work is pleased to announce the exhibition Looking & Looking, featuring photographs by Jen Davis and Amy Elkins. Both artists create work that focuses on gaze and identity, with Davis looking at herself and Elkins looking at young male athletes. The images in the exhibition explore the perception of how men and women are supposed to appear in society—men should be strong and confident, women should be beautiful—and the crafting of a self-image.
Jen Davis creates self-portraits that deal with issues surrounding beauty, identity, and body image of women, and challenges the perceptions and stereotypes of how women should look in their physical appearances. Amy Elkins depicts the more aggressive, competitive, and violent aspects of male identity in her series Elegant Violence, which captures portraits of young Ivy League rugby athletes moments after their game. Elkins’ images explore the balance between athleticism, modes of violence or aggression, and varying degrees of vulnerability within a sport where brutal body contact is fundamental.
Both artists focus on the construction of identity—the players are astutely aware of how they are presenting themselves while Davis draws attention to her own self-image in a more emotional way. Shown together, the works of Davis and Elkins urge the viewer to consider expectations and perceptions (both societal and individual) of identity.
About the Artists
Jen Davis received her MFA from Yale University, and her BA from Columbia College Chicago. Her work has been exhibited internationally, including at Musée de l’Elysée in Lausanne, Switzerland; Joy Wei Gallery in New York; SI FEST: Savignano Immagini Festival in Italy; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Center for Photography at Woodstock; Stephen Daiter Gallery in Chicago, IL; Milwaukee Art Museum; and Galerie Priska Pasquer in Cologne, Germany, among others. Her photographs are in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, The Sir Elton John Photography Collection, and The Library of Congress. Davis is represented by Lee Marks Fine Art.
Amy Elkins received her BFA in Photography from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. Her work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally, including shows at Kunsthalle Wien in Vienna, Austria; The PIP International Photo Festival in Pingyao, China; Gallery Elsa in Busan, South Korea; National Arts Club, Tina Kim Gallery, and Yancey Richardson Gallery in New York, among many others. Amy Elkins and Cara Phillips co-founded wipnyc.org, a platform for showcasing both established and emerging women in photography. Elkins is represented by Yancey Richardson Gallery in New York.
Also on view at this time is the exhibition Wounding the Black Male, featuring photographs from the Light Work Collection. The exhibition was co-curated by Cassandra Jackson and Sarah Cunningham, both from The College of New Jersey in Ewing, NJ.
Gallery hours for these exhibitions are Sunday to Friday, 10 am–6 pm (except school holidays), and by appointment. To schedule an appointment, please call 315-443-1300. Both the exhibition and reception are free and open to the public. Paid parking is available in Booth Parking Garage.
Light Work invites groups and individuals to schedule tours and gallery talks of the exhibition and facility. Light Work is a nonprofit, artist-run organization dedicated to the support of artists working in photography and electronic media. Light Work is a member of CMAC, the Coalition of Museum and Art Centers at Syracuse University.
For more information, please contact Jessica Reed at Light Work, 315-443-1300 or jhreed01@syr.edu.
Wounding the Black Male: Photographs from the Light Work Collection
/in ExhibitionsLight Work is pleased to bring the exhibition Wounding the Black Male to Syracuse. The exhibition was curated by English Professor Cassandra Jackson and Gallery Director Sarah Cunningham, both from The College of New Jersey (TCNJ). The exhibition was on view in the TCNJ Art Gallery in 2011.
The central ideas of the exhibit are rooted in Jackson’s most recent book, Violence, Visual Culture, and the Black Male Body (Routledge, 2010). Her book deals with the ways in which the black male body has been visually exploited, and the ways in which contemporary artists have called into question the paradigmatic construction of the black body in American society. The exhibit displays thirty-one photographs by nineteen contemporary artists of African descent, seventeen are from the United States, two from Britain. Their work comments on the various representations of black bodies in Western visual culture. These artists confront stereotypes about black male appearance, sexuality, violence, and family, and highlight the ways that visual culture has contributed to the marginalization and exclusion of the black community.
Violence, and more specifically the ways in which wounds have been used to control black masculinity, is central to Jackson’s research. The wounding and modification of the black body is a theme which runs throughout many of the photographs in the exhibit, most notably in the striking photographs of New York City based artist Hank Willis Thomas. Featured in the exhibit, Branded Chest (2003) from his Br@nded series, is a photograph of an anonymous African American male torso, with a scar of the Nike symbol etched on its left pectoral. Willis Thomas is commenting on the appropriation of the black body in American advertisement and consumer culture, and the implied values that American society assigns to the male body.
Gallery hours for these exhibitions are Sunday-Friday, 10am-6pm (except school holidays), and by appointment. To schedule an appointment, please call 315-443-1300. Both the exhibition and reception are free and open to the public. Paid parking is available in Booth Parking Garage.
Light Work invites groups and individuals to schedule tours and gallery talks of the exhibition and facility. Light Work is a nonprofit, artist-run organization dedicated to the support of artists working in photography and electronic media. Light Work is a member of CMAC, the Coalition of Museum and Art Centers at Syracuse University.
For more information, please contact Jessica Reed at Light Work, 315-443-1300 or jhreed01@syr.edu.