Deana Lawson, Binky and Tony Forever, 2009
“I photograph family, friends, and strangers, and I operate on the belief that my own being is found in union with those I take pictures of.” –Deana Lawson
This exhibition is the first museum survey dedicated to the work of Deana Lawson, a singular voice in photography today. For more than 15 years, Lawson has been investigating and challenging conventional representations of Black life through a wide spectrum of photographic languages, including the family album, studio portraiture, staged tableaux, documentary pictures, and appropriated images.
Deana Lawson, Brother and Sister Soweto, 2017
Deana Lawson, Birthing Beautiful Communities
Deana Lawson, Chief, 2019
Deana Lawson, Communion, 2017
Deana Lawson, Cortez, 2016
Deana Lawson, Coulson Family, 2008
Deana Lawson, Cowboys, 2014
Deana Lawson, Girls with Oiled Faces, 2004
Deana Lawson, Hellshire Beach Towel with Flies Portmore Jamaca, 2013
Deana Lawson, Nation, 2018
Deana Lawson, Nikki, 2015
Deana Lawson, Oath, 2013
Deana Lawson, Sons of Cush, 2016
Deana Lawson, Portal, 2017
Deana Lawson, Uncle Mack, 2016
Deana Lawson, Walking Home on Some Road Gemena DR Congo, 2015
Deana Lawson, Trap Car, 2016
Engaging acquaintances as well as strangers she meets on the street, Lawson meticulously poses her subjects in highly staged photographs that picture narratives of family, love, and desire, and create what the artist describes as “a mirror of everyday life, but also a projection of what I want to happen. It’s about setting a different standard of values and saying that everyday Black lives, everyday experiences, are beautiful, and powerful, and intelligent.”
This survey exhibition will include a selection of photographs from 2004 to the present, and will be accompanied by a fully illustrated scholarly catalogue, featuring the voices and perspectives of a variety of scholars, historians, and writers. Deana Lawson will travel to MoMA PS1 April 14 – September 5, 2022 and to the High Museum October 7, 2022 – February 19, 2023.
Deana Lawson, Installation view, Photo Artpil
Deana Lawson, Installation view, Photo Artpil
Deana Lawson, Installation view, Photo Artpil
This exhibition is co-organized by ICA/Boston and MoMA PS1. Organized by Eva Respini, Barbara Lee Chief Curator, ICA/Boston, and Peter Eleey, Curator-at-Large, UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing and Shanghai, with Anni Pullagura, Curatorial Assistant, ICA/Boston.
Major support for Deana Lawson is provided by the Henry Luce Foundation and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.
ICA / Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston
November 4, 2021 – February 27, 2022
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MoMA / Museum of Modern Art, New York
April 13 – September 5, 2022
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High Museum of Art, Atlanta
October 7, 2022 – February 19, 2023
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