New York State In-depth

Light Work presents its 50th anniversary exhibition

Light Work has announced its 50th Anniversary Exhibition: Selections from the Light Work Collection. Through a partnership with the legendary Everson Museum of Art, this extensive retrospective of the golden year will be on view from January 28th to May 14th, 2023 in two of the museum’s main gallery spaces.

Photo credit: Dawoud Bey

Impressive in its breadth and depth, the exhibition is a thoughtful curation of images and objects that have been added to Light Work’s collection since the organization’s inception in 1973. Only the generosity of former Light Work Artists-in-Residence, grant recipients and individual donations have made this possible.

Light Work’s 50th anniversary provides a unique opportunity to share with the local, regional and national community the legacy of support the organization brings to emerging and underrepresented artists working in photography, lens-based media and digital imaging work.

More than 4,000 photo prints, objects and ephemera from an extensive and diverse archive form the basis of this exhibition. The selection reflects the many programs and partnerships that represent 50 years of our commitment to increasing the visibility of lens-based artists.

The exhibition also highlights the hundreds of artists who came to Syracuse to expand their practice and create new works. Highlights of the exhibition include images by acclaimed photographers Dawoud Bey (residence 1985), Wendy Red Star (Ellis Gallery 2019), Alessandra Sanguinetti (residence 2002, Main Gallery 2003), Cindy Sherman (residence 1981), Hank Willis Thomas (residence 2006 ), Carrie Mae Weems (residence 1988), James Welling (residence 1986) and many more.

Headshot

Deborah Willis

The five-month celebratory retrospective features a full schedule of exhibition-related special events, workshops, docent-led tours, and an artist talk with the award-winning historian, author, curator, photographer, and alumni of the Light Work residency (1990). Deborah Willis, Ph.D. Light Work will host Willis’ lecture at the Everson Museum’s Hosmer Auditorium on Thursday, April 13 at 6:30 p.m

Willis is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Photography and Imaging at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. She is also director of NYU’s Center for Black Visual Culture. Her work examines the multifaceted history of photography, visual culture, contemporary women photographers and beauty. She is a MacArthur and Guggenheim Fellow recipient and a member of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Her many seminal publications include The Black Civil War Soldier: A Visual History of Conflict and Citizenship and Posing Beauty: African American Images from the 1890s to the Present. Professor Willis’ curated exhibitions include Home: Reimagining Interiority at YoungArts in Miami, Framing Moments at the Kalamazoo Institute of the Arts, Migrations and Meanings in Art, and Free As They Want to Be: Artists Committed to Memory “ at FotoFocus 2022.

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