Pauline Adamek
Posing Beauty in African American Culture explores the contested ways in which African and African American beauty have been represented in historical and contemporary contexts through a diverse range of media including photography, film, video, fashion, advertising, and other forms of popular culture such as music and the Internet.
There will be a panel discussion, entitled Posing Beauty Posing Questions, to be led by exhibition curator Deborah Willis, starting at 5 p.m. October 4th in the Grand Ballroom, Ronald Tutor Campus Center at USC.
Throughout the Western history of art and image-making, the relationship between beauty and art has become increasingly complex within contemporary art and popular culture.
The images in this exhibition challenge idealized forms of beauty in art by examining their portrayal and exploring a variety of attitudes about race, class, gender, popular culture and politics as seen through the aesthetics of representation.
The first of three thematic sections, Constructing a Pose, considers the interplay between the historical and the contemporary, between self-representation and imposed representation, and the relationship between subject and photographer.
The second theme, Body and Image, questions the ways in which our contemporary understanding of beauty has been constructed and framed through the body.
The last section, Modeling Beauty & Beauty Contests, invites us to reflect upon the ambiguities of beauty, its impact on mass culture and individuals and how the display of beauty affects the ways in which we see and interpret the world and ourselves.
Posing Beauty explores contemporary understandings of beauty by framing the notion of aesthetics, race, class, and gender within art, popular culture, and political contexts. This exhibit features approximately 84 works drawn from public and private collections and will be accompanied by a book published by W.W. Norton.
The exhibition is organized by the Department of Photography & Imaging at New York University, Tisch School of the Arts. The exhibition is curated by Deborah Willis, University Professor and Chair of the Department. The touring exhibition is made possible in part by the JPMorgan Chase Foundation and Curatorial Assistance. Additional support has been provided by grants from the Tisch School of the Arts Office of the Dean’s Faculty Development Fund, Visual Arts Initiative Award from the NYU Coordinating Council for Visual Arts, and NYU’s Advanced Media Studio.
This exhibition tour is organized by Curatorial Assistance, Pasadena, California.
Panel Discussion:
There will be a panel discussion, entitled Posing Beauty Posing Questions, to be led by exhibition curator Deborah Willis, starting at 5 p.m. October 4th in the Grand Ballroom, Ronald Tutor Campus Center at USC.
Posing Beauty in African American Culture
Fisher Museum of Art
University of Southern California (USC)
Exhibition is on display until December 3, 2011
Opening Hours:
Tuesday through Friday – Noon to 5 p.m.
Saturday – Noon to 4 p.m.
Closed Sunday, Monday and on USC football home game days.
Brian Sonia-Wallace
