 – Andy Warhol once said, “Everything has its beauty, but not everyone sees it.” Scheduled to go on view Tuesday, January 31, 2023, “Posing Beauty in African…){kind=link}
GAINESVILLE, FL (PNAN) – Andy Warhol once said, “Everything has its beauty, but not everyone sees it.” Scheduled to go on view Tuesday, January 31, 2023, “Posing Beauty in African American Culture” at the Harn Museum of Art, the exhibition will explore the ways in which African and African American beauty has been represented in historical and contemporary contexts through a diverse range of media including photography, video, fashion and advertising.
Approximately 120 works of art representing more than 45 artists and photographers, including Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe, Anthony Barboza, Sheila Pree Bright, Renee Cox, Victor Diop, Leonard Freed, Charles “Teenie” Harris, Dave Heath, Lauren Kelley, John W. Mosley, Ken Ramsay, Jeffrey Scales, Stephen Shames, Mickalene Thomas, Carrie Mae Weems and Hank Willis Thomas, among others will be on view.
Throughout the history of Western art and image-making, beauty has been idealized and challenged, and the relationship between beauty and art has become increasingly complex within contemporary art and popular culture. Posing Beauty explores contemporary understandings of beauty by framing the notion of aesthetics, race, class and gender within art, popular culture and political contexts.
“Constructing a Pose” is the first of three thematic sections that considers the interplay between the historical and the contemporary, between self-representation and imposed representation, and the relationship between subject and photographer.
“Body & Image” is the second theme that questions the ways in which our contemporary understanding of beauty has been constructed and framed through the body.
“Modeling Beauty & Beauty Contests” is the final theme that invites us to reflect upon the ambiguities of beauty, its impact on mass culture and individuals, and how the display of beauty affects the ways in which we see and interpret the world and ourselves.
Note: On Thursday, March 30, 2023 at 6:00 pm, a Curator Talk, “Posing Questions on Posing Beauty: A conversation with Deborah Willis” is slated. Willis is a University Professor and Chair, Department of Photography & Imaging at the Tisch School of the Arts, New York University.