Opening April 17
Mickalene Thomas (American, born 1971), Les Trois Femmes Deux, 2018, dye coupler print, High Museum of Art, Atlanta, purchase with funds from the Friends of Photography, 2018.214. © Mickalene Thomas.
For nearly all of photography’s one hundred eighty-year history, women have shaped the development of the art form and experimented with every aspect of the medium. Conceived in conjunction with the one hundredth anniversary of the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment granting suffrage to some women, Underexposed: Women Photographers from the Collection showcases one hundred twenty photographs, charting the medium’s history from the dawn of the modern period to the present through the work of women photographers. Organized roughly chronologically, each section emphasizes a distinct arena in which women contributed and often led the way, as pioneers of the medium in its early days; as modernists exploring abstraction, light, and form; as professional photographers working in photojournalism, advertising, and documentary modes; as avid experimenters and tinkerers with photographic processes; and as individuals exploring and often challenging the social constructions of gender, sexuality, and identity in the twentieth century and the contemporary moment.
RELATED PROGRAMS
Free for Museum members. Preregistration required for all programs. Please go to high.org for details.
THURSDAY, APRIL 15, 6 P.M., ZOOM
Curatorial Conversation: Andrea Nelson—The New Woman Behind the Camera
Explore the many ways women around the world radically shaped modern photography from the 1920s to the 1950s. In conjunction with the exhibition Underexposed, Andrea Nelson, associate curator of photography at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, will discuss her groundbreaking exhibition and book The New Woman Behind the Camera. Joined by Sarah Kennel, Donald and Marilyn Keough Family Curator of Photography, Nelson will discuss the global phenomenon of the “New Woman,” an ideal of female empowerment, real women making revolutionary changes in life and art, especially photography.
MAY, ZOOM
Conversations with Contemporary Artists: Underexposed
Join us for a special Conversations with Contemporary Artists featuring some of the outstanding artists in Underexposed. Moderated by Curatorial Assistant for Photography Maria Kelly, these artists will discuss their conceptual approaches to their work and especially their use of alternative photographic processes to create powerful reflections on identity, history, and place. Visit high.org for details on the artist lineup and to reserve your ticket.
Support for Conversations with Contemporary Artists is provided by the Jane F. and Clayton F. Jackson Conversations with Contemporary Artists Endowment.
