22:22 tells the story of Tom Sietas, who in 2012 set a world record at that time of twenty-two minutes and twenty-two seconds in Static Apnea, the ability to hold one’s breath underwater. (more…)
Gordon Parks was one of the seminal figures of twentieth century photography. A humanitarian with a deep commitment to social justice, he left behind a body of work that documents many of the most important aspects of American culture from the early 1940s up until his death in 2006, with a focus on race relations, poverty, civil rights, and urban life. In addition, Parks was also a celebrated composer, author, and filmmaker who interacted with many of the most prominent people of his era – from politicians and artists to celebrities and athletes.
Born into poverty and segregation in Kansas in 1912, Parks was drawn to photography as a young man when he saw images of migrant workers published in a magazine. After buying a camera at a pawnshop, he taught himself how to use it and despite his lack of professional training, he found employment with the Farm Security Administration (FSA), which was then chronicling the nation’s social conditions. Parks quickly developed a style that would make him one of the most celebrated photographers of his age, allowing him to break the color line in professional photography while creating remarkably expressive images that consistently explored the social and economic impact of racism.
When the FSA closed in 1943, Parks became a freelance photographer, balancing work for fashion magazines with his passion for documenting humanitarian issues. His 1948 photo essay on the life of a Harlem gang leader won him widespread acclaim and a position as the first African American staff photographer and writer for Life Magazine, then by far the most prominent photojournalist publication in the world. Parks would remain at Life for two decades, chronicling subjects related to racism and poverty, as well as taking memorable pictures of celebrities and politicians (including Muhammad Ali, Malcolm X, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., and Stokely Carmichael). His most famous images, such as Emerging Man (1952) and American Gothic (1942) capture the essence of activism and humanitarianism in mid-twentieth century America and have become iconic images, defining their era for later generations. They also rallied support for the burgeoning Civil Rights Movement, for which Parks himself was a tireless advocate as well as a documentarian.
Parks spent much of the last three decades of his life expanding his style; he continued working up until his death in 2006, winning numerous awards, including the National Medal of Arts in 1988, and over fifty honorary doctorates. He was also a noted composer and author, and in 1969, became the first African American to write and direct a Hollywood feature film based on his bestselling novel The Learning Tree. This was followed in 1971 by the hugely successful motion picture Shaft. The core of his accomplishment, however, remains his photography the scope, quality, and enduring national significance of which is reflected throughout the collection at The Gordon Parks Foundation.
22:22 tells the story of Tom Sietas, who in 2012 set a world record at that time of twenty-two minutes and twenty-two seconds in Static Apnea, the ability to hold one’s breath underwater. (more…)
After returning from years of war coverage, Peter van Agtmael tries to piece together the memory, identity, race, class, and family, in a landscape which has become as surreal as the war he left behind.
Whether creating an acid portrait of Sweden, representing the nightmarish world of business offices, tapping into the desolate uniformity of petrified, petit-bourgeois neighborhoods, Lars Tunbjörk has totally forgotten his black and white beginnings.
This year, and for the first time, the opening of the Horst exhibition, titled The Act of Breathing, is coinciding with the three-day Horst Arts & Music festival, from April 29 – May 1, 2022. After the festival weekend, the exhibition reopens from May 12 – July 31, 2022. (more…)
If Ryuichi Sakamoto had been born in 16th century Italy, we’d know what to call him: a Renaissance Man. But since he was born in Japan in the mid-20th century, we have to string together words like composer, musician, producer, actor, and environmental activist. (more…)
Angela Davis Johnson creates paintings, public art installations, and ritual performances to examine the technologies of black people, in particular black women/femme. (more…)
The work of Dineo Seshee Bopape is characterized by the use of organic and highly symbolic materials that allude to the concepts of memory, identity, and belonging. Soil is one of the most recognizable materials in her practice, and it is often mixed with other substances such as coal, ash, and clay (more…)
Hear You Athens is a series of 50 photographs and two letters, a correspondence between two friends, Georges Salameh and Alexandros Mistriotis. Their conversation, over the years, is summarized in this book. (more…)
Jasper Johns was an artist that came onto the scene in the 1950s. Much of the work that he created led the American public away from the expressionism form, and towards an art movement or form known as the concrete. (more…)