Gordon Parks: Higher Ground, an exhibition of over 60 photographs by the most important black photographer commemorating his Life magazine photo essays on the Civil Rights Movement.
As the first black photojournalist to work at Life magazine, from 1948 to 1972, Parks documented the stories of those he photographed, personalizing his assignments to tell the broader story of the African American experience. By gaining their trust unlike any other photojournalist, Parks’ empathy & charisma enabled him to gain access into his subject’s world. The show will include works from the essays for Life magazine, Invisible Man, 1952; Segregation Story, 1956; Duke Ellington, 1960 The March on Washington, 1963; The Nation of Islam, 1963; Muhammad Ali, 1970; & The Black Panthers, 1970.
In 2013, the gallery presented Gordon Parks: Centennial, an exhibition of works spanning six decades. Higher Ground presents lifetime silver gelatin prints & color pigment prints that cover a period of strife and turmoil in American History. This show coincides with the anniversaries of many historic events, including: 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War; the 60th anniversary of Rosa Parks refusing to give her bus seat to a white passenger; & the 50th anniversaries of the assassination of Malcolm X & the founding of the Black Panthers. The exhibition also documents milestones including Ralph Ellison’s groundbreaking 1952 National Book Award novel Invisible Man, the 1963 March on Washington, the 1964 Civil Rights Act, & the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
Gordon Parks documented a time in American history that brought about the attention of the nation & acted as a catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement. He exposed wrongs & highlighted the humanity in people, not with broad strokes but with the telling detail of intimate moments. Gordon Parks, an iconic photographer, writer, composer, & filmmaker, truly a Renaissance man, inspired storytellers & image-makers.
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The exhibition will feature new works by leading contemporary artist Julian Opie. On view are his lenticular series Walking In London 1 and 2 and Walking in the Rain. Opie is one of the most significant artists of his generation whose work is immediately identifiable. His pieces examine how we, as viewers, see things. His portraits, sculptures, and reliefs provide a way of depicting the world in which he balances the nuanced styles of Western Art with graphic traditions of caricature, illustration, and even cartoon. In the Opie style of graphic minimalism yet acutely descriptive, these series render figures in bold black outlines, capturing the personality of each. The works Walking in the Rain, London and Walking in the Rain, Seoul give the impression of being immersed on a busy urban sidewalk, bustling with noise. We will also feature his lenticular prints, a technique that utilizes multiple lenses to produce the illusion of depth and motion. The Walking in London lenticulars include figures such as Architect and Musician who shift in front of your eyes as you move in front of them.
Julian Opie exhibits widely both nationally and internationally. In 2015 he participated in the group exhibition Facing History: Contemporary Portraiture at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, as well as Vita Vitale at the Venice Biennale in Italy. In 2014 he exhibited at Tate, Liverpool for the group exhibition Keywords and in 2013 at Tate in London for the group exhibition Looking at the View. Opie has a number of public installation works across the world, including Promenade, 2012, a permanent installation in Calgary and a series of glass panels commissioned by St Mary’s Hospital, London. In 2010 Ann Dancing, a four-sided LED sculpture, became the first artwork installed on the Indianapolis Cultural Trail. His work can be found in many public collections worldwide, including: The Museum of Modern Art, New York; The National Portrait Gallery, London; The Tate Gallery, London; The British Museum, London; The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel; The Museum of Fine Art, Boston; The Victoria and Albert Museum, London; and The National Museum of Art, Osaka.
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