Art Out: Gordon Parks, American Epidemic, Marie Tomanova
United, Harlem, New York, 1948 © The Gordon Parks Foundation
Gordon Parks: A Choice of Weapons
Howard Greenberg Gallery | October 7 to December 23, 2021
NEW YORK CITY—Howard Greenberg Gallery will present the photography exhibition Gordon Parks: A Choice of Weapons from October 7 through December 23 in the new gallery on the 8th floor of the Fuller Building at 41 East 57th Street.
One of the world’s leading galleries for classic and modern photography, the Howard Greenberg Gallery is celebrating its 40th anniversary with an exhibition of important work by the renowned photographer and filmmaker Gordon Parks. Through his still images, both candid and staged, the exhibition explores the roots of Parks’ future as a filmmaker.
Parks, who described his camera as his “choice of weapons," was known for his work documenting American life and culture with a focus on social justice, race relations, the civil rights movement, and the African American experience. He was hired as staff photographer for Life magazine in 1948, where over two decades he created some of his most groundbreaking work that cast light on the social and economic impact of poverty, discrimination, and racism.
In 1969, Parks launched a pioneering film career by becoming the first African American to write and direct a major studio feature, The Learning Tree, based on his semi-autobiographical novel—a career move foreshadowed through his cinematic approach to photography.
Marking the 50th anniversary of the release of Parks' second feature-length directorial endeavor, Shaft (1971), a classic New York City detective film that spawned the blaxploitation genre, the gallery will present photographic works that reveal the artist's cinematic approach.
Parks' earliest photographs often imply a narrative beyond the individual frame, echoing his desire to represent complex facets of his subjects' lives and communities. Like his films, Parks' photographs present robust narratives that seek to reveal the complexities of his subjects’ lives.
Felix Gonzalez-Torres“Untitled” (Death by Gun)1990Courtesy of the Collection of The Museum of Modern Art New York, purchased in part with funds from Arthur Fleischer, Jr. and Linda Barth Goldstein
American Epidemic: Guns in the United States
Museum of Contemporary Photography | Columbia College Chicago
September 10, 2021 to February 20, 2022
CHICAGO-The Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago (MoCP) presents American Epidemic: Guns in the United States from September 10, 2021 to February 20, 2022. This exhibition brings together work by ten artists who examine gun culture in the United States and the role guns play in structural violence, poverty, systemic racism, and an increasingly militarized police force. The exhibition is organized by Karen Irvine, MoCP Chief Curator and Deputy Director.
The exhibition features work by Carolyn Drake, Nancy Floyd, Stephen Foster, Andres Gonzalez, Félix González-Torres, Deborah Luster, Zora J Murff,Renée Stout,and Hank Willis Thomas and Kambui Olujimi. The work presented inAmerican Epidemicnot only explores the complex array of issues that arise with the increased presence of gunsin American society, but advocates for an intersectional understanding of how gender, race, capitalism, and militarism affect the larger conversation around gun control in this country.
Marie Tomanova King Princess & Quinn, 2020
Marie Tomanova Finding Magic Together
C24 Gallery | October 7 to December 24, 2021
Please join us for the inaugural solo exhibition by Marie Tomanova at C24 Gallery, Finding Magic Together, a collection of new works in her ongoing series of photographs of anew generation of New Yorkers, unbound by convention. The opening reception will take place on Thursday, October 7th, from 6-8pm.
We first showed Tomanova’s works in our 2020 group exhibition, On the Inside: Portraiture Through Photography. Her refreshing take on New York City youth culture was initially the result of her own desire to make friends as a newly transplanted NYC resident, back in 2012. Since then, she has photographed hundreds of young people, enough to fill two books with intimate and engaging portraits that evoke a complex mix of toughness and tenderness.
Her first book, Young American, published in 2019, contained an introduction by celebrated American photographer, Ryan McGinley. Her recently published book with art historian Thomas Beachdel, New YorkNew York (Hatje Cantz), features a foreword by culture icon Kim Gordon. Tomanova says: “This work is about New York City asa landscape of youth and a portrait of place—entwining person and environment. It is about places and people I have met here and the magic we found together. It isabout discovering and expressing our identity or identities. It isabout the beautiful fluidity of identity and experience. It is us. It isabout being free to be yourself. It is about being with others. It is about New York City as a place of becoming. And it is about togetherness and the power of being together—connecting.”
We are excited to be debuting these images while selections from our recent exhibition, Street Life, featuring works by New York-based artists Lisbeth Firmin, Coby Kennedyand Ryan Sarah Murphyremain onview in our downstairs atrium. Together, these collections speak to the dynamiccharacter of this city and the people who bring it to life.
After a busy summer exhibiting in France at Rencontres d’Arles and the Czech Republic, with plans to have her work shown in China this fall, we are thrilled to welcome Marie back toNew York for her first solo exhibition here at C24 Gallery. We hope you will join us.
