April Issue 2002
Columbia Museum of Art in Columbia, SC, Offers Exhibit of Photos About the South
See the Blues and the way it inspired the work of many of the world's most influential photographers at the Columbia Museum of Art in Columbia, SC. Visualizing the Blues: Images of the American South 1862-1999 opens at the museum on Apr. 6 and runs through May 26, 2002. Visualizing the Blues chronicles the bizarre and beautiful through the work of 63 photographers. The exhibition articulates the genesis and varied inspirations of a musical form through the faculty of vision and poses questions about the interplay between sight and sound. Eudora Welty, Gordon Parks, Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, Sally Mann and Henri Cartier-Bresson are among the photographers featured in the exhibition. Through the photographers' eyes it is possible to understand many of the cultural characteristics of the South that contribute to the creation of blues music - the sense that both joy and sorrow are considered high moments in life. The photographs - energetic and unique in their vibrant color and design sensibility - are steeped in a profound spirituality and show an inventiveness in the face of deprivation, a tolerance for eccentricity, and a oneness with the landscape of the Delta. The exhibition spans the history of photography from the Civil War to contemporary times and explores various themes that characterize life in the region, such as Love of the Land, At Home and in Town and Religion, Spirituality and the Occult.
"We are proud to have developed this important
exhibition celebrating the region we love. Visualizing the
Blues is an evocative celebration of Southern life,"
says Jay Kamm, director of the Dixon Gallery and Gardens and organizer
of the exhibition. "Authors such as William Faulkner, Flannery
O'Conner and Katherine Anne Porter have captured the culture of
the South in words. We feel the photographs exhibited in Visualizing
the Blues express the same feeling. These images tell the story
of the Blues and the South as dynamically as the work of any writer."
Matthew Brady's Civil War images distill four years of horror
into single, haunting moments. Eudora Welty's images of Mississippi
in the '30s and '40s offer a glimpse into the South's past as
well as a vision of the conditions and traditions that have created
Mississippi's future. Walker Evans' documentation of the South
during the WPA era is a significant part of the reason he is remembered
as one of the great photographers of the twentieth century. Also,
Henri Cartier-Bresson and Alain Desvergnes capture the workings
of Southern society with an outsider's objectivity. Contemporary
photographer, Andres Serrano, makes his mark in the exhibition
with an intriguing, provocative portrait, and a number of emerging
artists add their visual comments to the observations of their
predecessors. This exhibition is organized by The Dixon Gallery
and Gardens and guest curated by Wendy McDaris.
For more information about the Columbia Museum of Art or to become
a member, visit or call 803/799-2810 or at (www.columbiamuseum.org).
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