Seminal Photography Exhibition ‘Posing Beauty’ Makes Southeast Debut at Spelman College

Exhibition will be on view Sept. 5 through Dec. 7, 2013

The Spelman College Museum of Fine Art is the first institution in the Southeast to present the nationally touring exhibition, “Posing Beauty in African American Culture.” Featuring more than 75 photographs by leading, emerging, and amateur photographers, “Posing Beauty” explores ways contemporary understanding of beauty has been informed by the works of photographers and artists dating from 1890 to the present.  The exhibition will be on view Sept. 5 through Dec. 7, 2013. The exhibition is curated by Deborah Willis, Ph.D., one of the nation's leading historians of African-American photography.

The works within “Posing Beauty” delve into topics including fashion, beauty pageants, celebrity figures, and family portraits, and prompt discussions about the contested ways African-American beauty has been represented in historical and contemporary contexts.  The museum will host an opening reception and book signing Thursday, Sept. 12, 2013, at 6:30 p.m., with Dr. Willis.

Within the exhibition, beauty is imagined and realized by both the subject and the photographer, and framed in novel ways — urban spaces, private studios, and within the imaginary. The aim is to encourage the viewer to think more critically about the notion of beauty and the consequences of the decisions made about beauty. This rare exhibition, featuring 12 decades of photographs, challenges widespread and historic notions of Black beauty.

“Posing Beauty in African American Culture” is organized by Curatorial Assistance Traveling Exhibitions, Pasadena, Calif. The museum acknowledges support from LUBO Fund and the Wish Foundation.

About Deborah Willis, Ph.D., Curator, “Posing Beauty in African American Culture”
Deborah Willis, Ph.D., is one of the nation's leading historians of African-American photography and curators of African-American culture.  She is currently the chair of the Department of Photography & Imaging at the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University and has an affiliated appointment as a university professor with the College of Arts and Sciences, Africana Studies. She was a Guggenheim Fellow, a Fletcher Fellow, and a MacArthur Fellow. Dr. Willis is the author of “Reflections In Black: A History of Black Photographers - 1840 to the Present” and “Let Your Motto Be Resistance.” Her book “Michelle Obama: The First Lady in Photographs” received the 2010 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work—Biography/Autobiography. She has exhibited her photographs at the Zora Neale Hurston Museum in Eatonville, Fla. and just released two books: a co-authored book entitled “Envisioning Emancipation: Black Americans and the End of Slavery,” published by Temple University Press, and “Out [o] Fashion Photography: Embracing Beauty,” published by the Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington Press.

SPECIAL TO THE EXHIBITION
Atlanta and its African-American educational and social institutions figure prominently in “Posing Beauty.” The exhibition includes early 20th century photographs of prominent Atlanta families, luminaries, and Atlanta University students by Thomas E. Askew, who is widely recognized as Atlanta’s first African-American photographer. Notably, W.E.B. DuBois selected Askew’s photographs for the award-winning “The American Negro Exhibit” which he organized and presented at the 1900 Paris Exposition.

Another highlight of “Posing Beauty” is the debut of the Mary L. Welch Spelman Collection of cabinet cards of Spelman College faculty, students, and alumnae courtesy of the Spelman College Archives. Cabinet cards were a late 19th/early 20th century style of photographic portraiture that consisted of a thin photograph that was generally mounted on cards measuring 4¼ by 6½ inches. Mary L. Welch, who taught at Spelman from 1891 to 1895, kept in touch with her former students beyond her tenure at Spelman. The Welch Collection was gifted to the College by her granddaughter, Joan Handy, in 2012.

THIS IS BEAUTY
In celebration of “Posing Beauty in African American Culture” the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art and @USalon are partnering to find out what people find beautiful in their daily lives. Find out which artists, authors, and tastemakers have already weighed in, see what beautiful things participants encounter in their daily lives, and join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram using #thisisbeauty.

EXHIBITION RELATED EVENTS
Opening Reception and Book Signing
Thursday, September 12, 2013
6:30 p.m.
Meet Deborah Willis, Ph.D., the curator of “Posing Beauty in African American Culture,” and be among the first to view this nationally-touring exhibition.

Reframing “Black is Beautiful:” A lecture by Deborah Willis, Ph.D.
Thursday, October 17, 2013
6:30 p.m.
Dr. Willis will lead a conversation examining and challenging conventional perspectives on identity, beauty, cosmopolitanism, and community in Africa and the African Diaspora.  Her talk will also examine the relationship between beauty and politics and how such topics have shaped a new understanding of Black culture from the antebellum period to the present. This program is organized in collaboration with Atlanta Celebrates Photography and is part of the Ida B. Wells-Barnett Distinguished Lecture Series.

Exhibition-related programs are made possible by The Mary Alice and Bennett Brown Foundation, Inc.

To learn about additional upcoming programs visit museum.spelman.edu.

TO SCHEDULE A GROUP TOUR
To schedule a group tour of “Posing Beauty in African American Culture,” please contact Makeba Dixon-Hill, curator of education, at mdixon@spelman.edu or 404-270-5607.

INTERACT WITH THE MUSEUM
To learn more about the exhibition “Posing Beauty in African American Culture” please visit museum.spelman.edu.  

To interact with the museum and its community, share your perspective on the College’s art collection, and receive the latest museum news and exclusives, follow the museum on facebook.com/spelmanmuseum, and twitter.com/spelmanmuseum. Once you arrive at the museum, be sure to check in on foursquare.

ADDRESS
The Spelman College Museum of Fine Art is located in the Atlanta University Center on the Spelman College campus on the first floor of the Camille Olivia Hanks Cosby Academic Center at 350 Spelman Lane.

For visitors using GPS navigations systems, the following address will bring you directly to the entrance of Spelman College: 440 Westview Drive, S.W. Atlanta, GA 30310.

HOURS
The museum is open Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays, noon to 4 p.m. The museum is closed Sundays, Mondays, major holidays, and official College breaks. For more information about the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, visit museum.spelman.edu.

ABOUT SPELMAN COLLEGE MUSEUM OF FINE ART
The Spelman College Museum of Fine Art is the only museum in the nation that emphasizes art by and about women of the African Diaspora. Since the museum opened in 1996 it has established an impressive track record for organizing first-rate, mission-specific, art exhibitions that expand contemporary art offerings in Atlanta and the southeast region. It has garnered a reputation for organizing exhibitions that merit national and international attention. Milestones include being selected as the first institution from the United States that jointly (along with the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston) represented the United States at the 2012 Havana Biennial in Havana, Cuba.

Audrey Arthur
Spelman College Office of Communications
(404) 270-5892 office
aarthur3@spelman.edu

ABOUT SPELMAN COLLEGE
Founded in 1881, Spelman College is a highly selective, liberal arts college widely recognized as the global leader in the education of women of African descent. Located in Atlanta, Ga., the College’s picturesque campus is home to 2,100 students. Outstanding alumnae include Children's Defense Fund Founder Marian Wright Edelman; Sam’s Club CEO Rosalind Brewer, Broadway Producer Alia Jones, Former Acting Surgeon General and Spelman’s first alumna President Audrey Forbes Manley, former Harvard College Dean Evelynn Hammonds, Author Pearl Cleage and Actress LaTanya Richardson Jackson. For more information, visit www.spelman.edu.

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