This announcement originally appeared in a newsletter from The Outwin

The Outwin 2022: American Portraiture Today

Finalists Announced in Sixth Triennial Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition

Selected Artworks Will Be Exhibited in Major Exhibition and Tour

Kamoinge Member Adama Delphine Fawundu selected as a finalist.

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The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery has announced the finalists in the sixth triennial Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition. Their work will be presented in “The Outwin 2022: American Portraiture Today,” a major exhibition premiering at the National Portrait Gallery from April 30, 2022, through Feb. 26, 2023, before traveling to other cities in the United States. 

Every three years, artists living and working in the United States are invited to submit one of their recent portraits to a panel of experts chosen by the museum. The 42 finalists in this year’s edition were selected from more than 2,700 entries. The first-prize winner, to be announced in the spring, will receive a cash award of $25,000 and a commission to create a portrait of a living person for the museum’s permanent collection.

The Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition encourages artists living and working across the United States, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa and the U.S. Virgin Islands to submit work that challenges traditional definitions of portraiture.

This year’s competition received entries in a variety of media, including painting, photography, assemblage, sculpture, performance and time-based media. The winning artworks not only reflect the evolving democratization of portraiture but also underscore the genre’s ability to tell once-hidden stories. Finalists represent 14 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. Seven artists have been shortlisted for prizes. The winners and allotted prize amounts will be announced at the press preview April 29, 2022. Previous first-prize winners have been David Lenz (2006), Dave Woody (2009), Bo Gehring (2013), Amy Sherald (2016) and Hugo Crosthwaite (2019).

“The Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition was founded to support the next wave of contemporary portraiture in the United States,” said Kim Sajet, director of the National Portrait Gallery. “The diversity of this edition’s entries, from geographic origin to subject matter and media, reflects both the multifaceted story of the United States today and the unique perspectives and lenses through which contemporary artists see that story. Produced in the past three years, it is no surprise that the art provides a powerful affirmation of the human experience focused on the pain of the COVID-19 pandemic, demands for social justice, personal isolation, familial ties, community support, love and loss.”

Guest jurors for this competition are Kathleen Ash-Milby, curator of Native American art, Portland Art Museum, Oregon; Catherine Opie, artist, professor of photography and chair of the art department at the University of California, Los Angeles; Ebony G. Patterson, artist, Chicago and Kingston, Jamaica; and John Yau, poet, critic and professor of critical studies, Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University, New Jersey. Members of the jury from the National Portrait Gallery include Taína Caragol, curator of painting and sculpture and Latinx art and history; Leslie Ureña, curator of photographs; and Dorothy Moss, curator of painting and sculpture and coordinating curator for the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative.

Caragol is the director of the 2022 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition and is co-curating the exhibition “The Outwin 2022: American Portraiture Today” with Ureña.

The Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition is made possible by the Virginia Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition Endowment, established by Virginia Outwin Boochever and continued by her children.

Curated by Sergio Bessa.

Starting at the young age of fifteen, Brooklyn born photographer Jamel Shabazz identified early on the core subject of his lifelong investigation: the men and women, young and old, who invest the streets of New York City with a high degree of theater and style, mixing traditions and cultures. Despite following a celebrated tradition of street photography that includes Gordon Parks, Garry Winogrand, and Lee Friedlander, it is to his credit that Shabazz has been one of the first photographers to realize the joyous, infectious potential of youth culture in neighborhoods such as East New York, Cypress Hill, East Flatbush and Bed-Stuy. A formidable archive of New York’s diverse communities in the outer boroughs, this exhibition pays homage to Jamel Shabazz’s illustrious career of over forty years documenting the vibrant interaction of New Yorkers with their neighborhoods. 

http://www.bronxmuseum.org/exhibitions/jamel-shabazz-eyes-on-the-street

Street Photography Festival – 2022

The Los Angeles Center of Photography is pleased to announce its Eighth Annual Street Photography Festival.

Kamoinge member Gerald Cyrus will be speaking at the Festival on Wednesday, April 6, 2022.
 

For full event information, click here.

Opening Reception on Saturday, April 2, 2022; On view through June 11, 2022 in Gallery

One and Gallery Two, Rockland Center for the Arts

27 So. Greenbush Rd. W. Nyack, NY 10994; Info: 845-358-0877; www.rocklandartcenter.org

In honor of Black History, LACP is proud to produce the pop-up exhibition “Fresh As ____”: Photographic Meditations from the Black Vanguard (Regarding A New Esthetic)” The exhibition is curated by Los Angeles-based photographer Ali LeRoi and Philadelphia-based photographer Shawn Theodore. Six talented artists were carefully selected to participate.

Kamoinge member Gerald Cyrus is amongst the six artists showing at the pop-up exhibit.

The exhibition will be on display at Sovern, 5757 West Adams Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90016, showing March 25-27, 2022. An opening reception is scheduled for Thursday, March 24, 7-10 pm PST, 2022. Please RSVP for the reception HERE.

Photographs by Jamel Shabazz from 1980 - 1990. At the Bene Taschen Gallery in Cologne, Germany.

From March 4th - May 28th. Curated by Bene Taschen.

Bruce Silverstein Gallery is pleased to present Adger Cowans: Footsteps, an exhibition of the artist’s photographs from 1955 to today. Featuring over thirty vintage and modern prints, Footsteps is the artist’s first solo New York gallery exhibition since 1985.

Carver Museum Presents the First Career Retrospective of iconic photographer Jamel Shabazz: Peace to the Queen

About this event

Legendary photographer, humanitarian, and educator Jamel Shabazz will present his first career retrospective, Peace to the Queen at the Carver Museum. The exhibit spans four-decades of work by the artist and features portraits of women of color that are candid, artful, and often intimate. At a moment when Black and Brown women are more visibly leading the charge around movements for racial and economic justice—Peace to the Queen has materialized and aligned at a critical moment in American history and Jamel Shabazz’s resurgent career.

Peace to the Queen signals a major turning point for the City of Austin operated Carver Museum that has emerged as a formidable Black Arts institution in the Southwest region. Doctoral candidate at the University of Texas at Austin, Ja’nell Ajani is the lead curator of this groundbreaking collection of work by Jamel Shabazz. She is an alumna of Spelman College and has earned graduate degrees in African Studies and Studio Art/Photography from New York University.

The opening reception will take place from 6:30 - 9:00 pm on Thursday, February 24, 2022. Registration via Eventbrite is strongly encouraged, but not required.

Brooklyn native, Jamel Shabazz (b.1960) picked up his first camera at the age of 15 and began to document his peers. Inspired by photographers Leonard Freed, James Van Der Zee, Gordon Parks, and their compelling documentation of Black culture— he sought to build on the legacy of their work. Using the public spaces of New York City as his backdrop, Shabazz embarked on a journey to document and affirm the dignity of communities devastated by Reaganomics, the War on Drugs, and the continued criminalization of poor people. From this work, a hallmark style emerged along with some of his most iconic photographs.

Today, Jamel Shabazz’s work extends far beyond the public streets, parks, and subways of New York City and includes a robust portfolio of commercial, fashion, documentary, and fine art photography that has been exhibited around the world.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/jamel-shabazz-peace-to-the-queen-exhibit-opening-tickets-241463743557

Curated by Dexter Wimberly

Jamel Shabazz is a rare photographer whose work stands as a testament to the lived experiences of Black people in America for over 40 years. His impressive oeuvre is engaging and highly recognizable. This exhibition brings together selections from Shabazz's extensive archive of photographs.

The son of a veteran, Shabazz was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He picked up his first camera at the age of 15 and soon after began photographing his friends and relatives. As Shabazz's practice evolved, the streets and the New York City subway system also became the backdrop for many of his photographs. Shabazz has drawn inspiration from noted studio and documentary photographers, most influentially Leonard Freed, as well as James VanDerZee, Gordon Parks, Robert Capa, and Eli Reed.

Shabazz has stated that his goal is to contribute to the preservation of world history and culture. Reflections of a People offers a glimpse into a past time and place, capturing moments of Black life for future generations.

https://www.ganttcenter.org/exhibitions/reflections-of-a-people-photographs-from-the-archive-of-jamel-shabazz/

Bellarmine Hall Galleries

January 28 – June 18, 2022

Adger Cowans (American, b. 1936) is celebrated as one of the founding members of the Black photographers' group called Kamoinge. Curated by Halima Taha, PhD, this exhibition will explore how Cowans uses photography as a vehicle to articulate beauty within the human condition, and the world in which we live, and will feature over fifty works from across his illustrious career as a photographer of portraiture, landscape, and film.

https://www.fairfield.edu/museum/exhibitions/upcoming-exhibitions/adger-cowans/index.html

BAM Sign on the corner of Lafayette and Flatbush in Brooklyn

“Salvation: A State of Being” is a group exhibition that meditates on how Black artists utilize their practice as a forum to reflect and express notions of self-love, self-esteem, self-determination, and self-actualization. Inspired by the seminal text by the late trailblazing Black feminist and author bell hooks, Salvation: Black People and Love, this exhibition seeks to explore how Black image-making actively functions as a vehicle of resistance against the dehumanization of Black people and a device to guide us toward an expansive view of the Black imagination.

“Salvation: A State of Being” is also an homage to the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. by offering two questions for us to ponder: What is love? What is next in the journey toward liberation? Ossei-Mensah invites these seven photographers to reflect on these queries and share works from their oeuvres that best engage with these ideas and provide further food for thought as we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and start 2022.

SHIFTING GAZE: A RECONSTRUCTION OF THE BLACK & HISPANIC BODY

CONTEMPORARY ART FROM THE COLLECTION OF DR. ROBERT B. FELDMAN

MARCH 1 - JUNE 20, 2021
PEELER ART CENTER, LOWER GALLERY

Virtual Exhibit here.

Fort Scott – Kyle Johnson and Eli Reed will be the recipients of the “Gordon Parks Choice of Weapons Award” at the annual celebration this October 7-9, 2021 in Fort Scott, Kansas. The celebration is in honor Fort Scott native Gordon Parks, noted photographer, writer, musician, and filmmaker. The Choice of Weapons Award was established in Parks’ honor to be given annually at the Celebration.

Named after his autobiography of the same name, the award seeks to honor a recipient who exemplifies the career and character of Gordon Parks. Previous recipients include actor and musician Avery Brooks, photographer Howard L. Bingham, Elizabeth Eckford and Ernest Green, two of the “Little Rock Nine,” Richard Roundtree, star of the Parks-directed film, Shaft, Nichelle Nichols of Star Trek fame, acclaimed actress Ruby Dee, photographer John Shearer, LIFE magazine photo editor Bobbi Burrows, Senator Nancy Landon Kassebaum, musicians Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr., editor Genevieve Young, filmmaker Kevin Willmott, educator Bernadette Gray-Little, Roger E. Mosley, star of the Parks-directed film, Leadbelly, Karole Graham, Stephen Perry and S. Pearl Sharp, cast members of the Parks-directed film, The Learning Tree.

Kyle Johnson, was born into a show business family - his mother is none other than Nichelle Nichols, known throughout the universe as Lt Uhura of the original Star Trek. He made his professional stage debut at age 7 in Only in America and his first television appearances include Day in Court, General Hospital, and The Fugitive. In his teens, he began to consider more seriously his desire to pursue a career in acting. Kyle’s appearance in Chuck Connors’ latter day vehicle, Cowboy in Africa, accelerated his critique of the film industry and it’s portrayal of Black people and culture. Encouraged by his grandmother, Lishia, to endure and overcome, he was soon cast in a groundbreaking collaboration between NBC and the Watt’s Writer’s Workshop - Losers Weepers. The following year Kyle got a call regarding a film in planning and met with Gordon Parks who decided on the spot that Kyle would portray him in the screen adaptation of his autobiographical novel, The Learning Tree. The film and it’s author have been lauded continuously since it’s release in 1969. In 1989 it was among the first 25 films inducted into the Library of Congress National Film Registry for their cultural, historical, or aesthetic value and now stands in the company of Gone with the Wind, The Wizard of Oz, and Citizen Kane.

Following The Learning Tree, Kyle compiled more credits including The Mod Squad, and as the son of Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee in The Sheriff. But Kyle’s misgivings about Hollywood’s stereotypical and demeaning portrayals of Black America were further reinforced. Hopes for a new dawn were dimmed by the emerging wave of Blaxploitation films and he withdrew from the film industry in the mid-70s. Johnson’s creative drive was redirected to music. He quickly developed his talents and attracted attention as a singer/songwriter performing in clubs throughout Los Angeles and San Francisco as a solo performer and with bands including Gideon & Power, a 2Beat Gospel/Funk band and The Skanksters, a rambunctious Reggae/ Ska combo. After moving to New Mexico in 1993, he became general manager of CATS! / Community Access Television of Silver, providing public, education, and government related programs in Silver City. In the early 2000’s, Johnson had a local am talk show that created controversy - Radio Free Silver! - that created such controversy that it was abruptly canceled mid- program under pressure from disgruntled advertisers.

In 2005 he became a founding board member, and later, general manager of Gila / Mimbres Community Radio. Over the next 15 years he led charge to get the station on the air and succeeded in making the station not only a valuable resource but indispensable institution in Southwest New Mexico. Kyle first visited New Mexico in 1979 and has lived along the Gila River with his wife, Monica Rude, and various cats and chickens since 1996... As quoted by Kyle, “it’s not the end of the world, but you can see it from there.”

Eli Reed, is an accomplished photographer that began his career as a freelancer in 1970. His work from El Salvador, Guatemala and other Central American countries attracted the attention of Magnum Photos in 1982, where he became a full member in 1988. Reed has authored several books, including Beirut: City of Regrets, Black in America (preface by Gordon Parks), The Lost Boys of Sudan, and Eli Reed: A Long Walk Home (introduction by Paul Theroux) an award winning retrospective.

His photographs have been recognized in numerous shows and exhibitions. Reed photographed the effects of poverty on children for a film documentary called America’s Children, Poorest in the Land of Plenty, narrated by Maya Angelou and televised on NBC on Mother’s Day. He has worked as a stills and specials photographer for many motion pictures including Rosewood, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Poetic Justice, Five Heartbeats, Ghosts of Mississippi, and Oscar winning films including A Beautiful Mind, 8 Mile, and the documentary about young people actively involved in the Civil Rights movement in Alabama, Mighty Times, The Children’s March. Reed has received many awards including, Pulitzer Prize Nominee (1981), Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University (1982-83), POY Nikon World Understanding Award (1983), Overseas Press Club (1983), World Press Daily Life Award 1988, W. Eugene Smith Grant in Documentary Photography (1992), his video documentary Getting Out shown at the New York Film Festival in 1993 and honored by the 1996 Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame International Film and Video Competition in the documentary category.

He just recently received three renown awards which are the National Press Photographers Association Joseph A. Sprague Memorial Award, Harvard University Nieman Foundation I.F. Stone Medal award for Long Term Investigative Journalism, and now the Gordon Parks Choice of Weapons Award (all in 2021).

Reed was a Clinical Professor of Photojournalism at The University of Texas in Austin (2005) until recently. He is currently involved in writing, working on his next photography book, along with preparing for planned exhibitions in Korea and China delayed because of the Pandemic. Reed is also involved with film projects as writer, producer, and director on current ongoing fictional and documentary film productions.

Photoville Fence 9th Edition Locations Photographer Collette Fournier: "Ripple of Thunder: A History of Black Motorcyclists" at Photoville in my hometown of Brooklyn, NY!

https://photoville.com/.../fence9-brooklyn.../

Atlanta // October 6 – June 2021
Atlanta Beltline

New Orleans // November 14 – late February 2021
Lafitte Greenway

Sarasota // November 18 – February 23, 2021
Nathan Benderson Park

Seattle (8th edition) // Through fall 2020
Waterfront Seattle

This bio originally appeared in the Princeton University Art Museum website.

Adama Delphine Fawundu (b. 1971) draws upon her Mende heritage and her experience as the first member of her family born in the United States to explore the passage of knowledge, artistic expression, and historical events through generations and throughout the African diaspora. Through multimedia work that employs Sierra Leonian garra fabric and fabric-printing techniques learned from her female elders, Fawundu investigates familial traditions and cultural inheritance. In photographs she embodies the enigmatic figure of Mami Wata, a shape-shifting water deity who travels across cultures and continents and serves as a witness to significant events in Black history. In her video the cleanse, Fawundu transforms hair-washing into a ritual. Accompanied by a soundtrack of harvest chants, trap music, and the words of Black luminaries, she maps a creative lineage from her African roots to contemporary culture. Gathering Together is curated by Beth Gollnick, curatorial associate, with Mitra Abbaspour, Haskell Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art.  

Click here to view an online gallery of works in this exhibition.

Click here to download the exhibition brochure.

Public Art Installation

Federal Hall

June 4 - August 31, 2021

New York, NY

https://federalhall.org/?v=7516fd43adaa

Radical Spaces

Shebang Amsterdam

June 2021 (Ongoing)

Amsterdam, NL

https://shebangamsterdam.nl/

Radiance From the Waters (Solo Show)

The Jefferson School African American Heritage Center

May 29, 2021 - Aug 28, 2021

Charlottesville, VA
https://jeffschoolheritagecenter.org/exhibitions/adama-delphine-fawundu-radiance-from-the-waters/?back=ago