OUR PICKS OF THE MONTH
JUNE 2012
BOOK
Super Women
In Women Are Heroes, we see the scope and scale of the public art projects French
photographer JR takes on. The book focuses on his “Women” series, which aims
“to underline the pivotal role of women in society and to highlight their dignity by
photographing them in their daily lives and pasting their faces on the walls of their
village and throughout the world.”
For the series, JR traveled to economically depressed communities in Sierra Leone,
Liberia, Sudan, Kenya, Brazil, India and Cambodia. The portraits and interviews of
the women he met in these countries
make up one part of the book. The
other focuses on how the large,
blown-up photos were displayed in
the women’s communities as well as in
other cities. Shown on trains, bridges,
roofs, walls and other public spaces,
JR’s massive portraits are art for and
of the people—an inspiring concept
regardless of where you live.
© jr
In Kenya, JR’s oversize portraits of women were
printed on tarps used to cover leaky roofs.
Women Are Heroes:
A Global Project by JR
Text by Marco Berrebi
Abrams
Hardcover, 360 pages
375 images, $40
EXHIBITION
William Christenberry and
Mona Kuhn on Home
Jackson Fine Art gallery has brought together two shows by two of its artists who
work in very different ways but are both exploring the subject of home.
The Alabama-born William Christenberry is known for his photos, paintings and
sculptures depicting the American South. To make the photos in his new exhibition
“Working from Memory,” he revisited Hale County, Alabama, and photographed places
and sites that he knew as a boy. Many of the churches and houses he photographed
are now weathered and aged. In his new book of the same title, he writes about the
elastic nature of memory: “I think that oftentimes art can make an outsider look back
on something he has never been part of, and make him
feel like he has always been part of it.”
Christenberry’s images of vernacular architecture
share the gallery with images photographer Mona
Kuhn took in her home in Bordeaux, France. She asked
friends and family members to pose themselves in a
room that has lush, red fabric on the walls and natural
light streaming in. In many of the images, the figures
are only reflected in the windows of the door, making
them look like a mysterious
presence. Kuhn says the images
are mementos that capture the
atmosphere of the house, and
are “similar to bread crumbs that
I throw on the path” to help her
find her way back home.
“William Christenberry:
Working from Memory” &
“Mona Kuhn: Bordeaux”
Through June 8, 2012
Jackson Fine Art
3115 East Shadowlawn Avenue
Atlanta, GA 30305
www.jacksonfineart.com
“Corn Sign with Storm Cloud,
Near Greensboro, Alabama, 1977”
by William Christenberry.
Life and Work
In his role as publisher, Robert Delpire
has worked with many of the greatest
photographers of the past half-century and
influenced the genre in numerous ways.
In 1958 he published Robert Frank’s
The Americans, and has also created books
with Josef Koudelka, William Klein and
Henri Cartier-Bresson, among numerous
others. In addition to his work as a
publisher, Delpire has served as a magazine
editor, public relations art director, head of
France’s Center National de la Photographie,
a feature and advertising film producer, and
a gallery art director.
© sarah moon
A portrait of Robert Delpire by Sarah Moon.
A retrospective celebrating his life’s
work, “Delpire & Co,” which first appeared at the 2009
Rencontres D’Arles festival, will be shown from May 11 to
July 19 by several venues in New York City. The Aperture
Foundation and Gallery at Hermés will each host
portions of the exhibition dedicated to photography,
including prints, books and magazine work, while the
French Embassy and La Maison Française of New York
University will display Delpire’s other work. Howard
Greenberg Gallery and Pace/MacGill Gallery will also
present Delpire-related exhibitions in May and June.
“Delpire & Co”
May 11-July 19, 2012
Co-hosted by Aperture
Gallery, Gallery at
Hermés, Cultural Services
of the French Embassy and
NYU’s La Maison Française
in New York City.
For more information:
http://bit.ly/Ira0u T
EXHIBITION
Oh, Mexico
An exhibition on display
now through July 8 at the
San Francisco Museum
of Modern Art surveys
Mexico’s history in
photography from the
Twenties to the present
day. Including Mexican
photographers like Manuel
Alvarez Bravo, Graciela
Iturbide and Pedro Meyer,
the exhibition delves into
photography’s role in the
art, culture, politics and
traditions of Mexico since the revolution.
© Yvonne venegas
Alvarez Bravo’s role as one of the most influential photographers in Mexico’s
history receives particular attention thanks to several works newly donated or loaned
to the museum by collectors Daniel Greenberg and Susan Steinhauser.
Other themes explored in the show include the country’s history as a source
of inspiration for non-native photographers like Tina Modotti, Paul Strand and
Edward Weston; how contemporary Mexican
photographers like Katya Brailovsky and Alejandro
Cartagena are addressing urbanization and
modernity; and international photographers’
perspectives on present-day U. S.-Mexico border
relations, which includes work by Susan Meiselas,
Paolo Pellegrin and Alec Soth.
“Nirvana” from the series “Maria Elvia De Hank,”
2006, by Yvonne Venegas.
“Photography in Mexico”
Through July 8, 2012
SFMOMA
151 Third Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
www.sfmoma.org
