Lift Your Head: Bruce Davidson and the Evolution of Seeing
An exhibition of works by Bruce Davidson from the permanent collection that explores historic context and viewer response as key factors in the evolution of meaning in photographs.
Photographer Bruce Davidson (b. 1933 Oak Park, Illinois) is known for his intimate and humanist approach to documentary photography. Through remembering the historical context in which he worked and the opposing views his work provoked, this exhibition explores how understanding and “reading” documentary photography has evolved over the past half-century. Davidson never claimed to be driven by ideology or agenda; his art was born from his roving curiosity, a deep desire for human connection, and the willingness to be patient. But despite the artist’s best intentions to simply immerse and observe, ideologies and agendas can manifest far beyond the frame when it comes to documenting the world, and it is within this resulting conversation that we can find meaning in images.
The exhibition features photographs from some of Davidson's best-known projects, including Brooklyn Gang, Time of Change, East 100th Street, and Subway.
Curator: Sarah Bay Gachot
Analogues: Travon Free
“I believe that you can literally change the world with a photograph,” states Travon Free.
The artist uses street photography strategies to present deeply felt political stands, and the results ascend toward the realm of art. Free’s images often balance at the edge of chaos—bursting with energy and emotion, filled with moments of flux and change—much like the country itself. “Chaotic and black and beautiful” is his own description. The artist is a directly involved chronicler. Free made these photographs at Los Angeles street demonstrations that followed the police killing of George Floyd.
As a series, Analogues features a single work by contemporary artists whose image-making resonates with the themes presented in the permanent collection gallery.