Becoming: Photographs From The Wedge Collection
August 11, 2011 - January 8, 2012
The Nasher Museum presents an exhibition featuring more than 100 original photographic portraits of people of color. “Becoming: Photographs from the Wedge Collection” is a series of portraits taken over the past 100 years by more than 60 global artists. In some portraits, the subjects have little or no control over the way they are depicted; in others, the subjects become increasingly involved with the photographer.
All of the artists reject a common tendency to view black communities in terms of conflict or stereotype. “Becoming” includes studio portraitists (Malick Sidibé, James VanDerZee), social documentarians (Milton Rogovin, Jürgen Schadeberg), conceptual artists (Hank Willis Thomas, Carrie Mae Weems) and young contemporary artists whose work is largely unknown in this country (Zanele Muholi, Viviane Sassen).
Artists in the exhibition: Henry Clay Anderson, J. Arthur, Michele D. Arthur, James Barnor, Janette Beckman, Dawoud Bey, Deanna Bowen, Vanley Burke, Clement Cooper, William Cordova, William Craig, Pete Doherty, Calvin Dondo, Rotimi Fani-Kayodé, Alfredo Ramos Fernández & Katarzyna (Kasia) Badach, Tony Gleaton, Joy Gregory, Fred Herzog, Pieter Hugo, Ayana Vellissia Jackson, Rashid Johnson, Seydou Keïta, Deana Lawson, Christina Leslie, Oumar Ly, Danny Lyon, Brendan Meadows, Sabelo Mlangeni, Anna Moller, Megan Morgan, Dennis Morris, Zanele Muholi, Keith Ng, Peggy Levison Nolan, Stephanie Noritz, J.D. 'Okhai Ojeikere, Horace Ové, Dawit L. Petros, Charlie Phillips, Annabel Reyes, Milton Rogovin, Athi-Patra Ruga, Wayne Salmon, Viviane Sassen, Jürgen Schadeberg, Jamel Shabazz, Augustus F. Sherman, Malick Sidibé, Xaviera Simmons, Aaron Siskind, Mikhael Subotzky, Mickalene Thomas, Hank Willis Thomas, James VanDerZee, Camilo Josè Vergara, Cecil Norman Ward, Ian Watson, Carrie Mae Weems, and Simon Willms.
The work is on loan from the collection of Dr. Kenneth Montague, who organized the exhibition. Montague, a dentist based in Toronto, has collected contemporary art since the 1990s. He grew up in the Canadian border town of Windsor, where he was influenced by the African American culture across the river, in Detroit.
“This important exhibition reveals Ken Montague’s incredible eye as a collector and his vision as a curator,” said Trevor Schoonmaker, Patsy R. and Raymond D. Nasher Curator of Contemporary Art. “The Wedge Collection is both daring and globally expansive while staying focused on the exploration of black identity. It stands out as a truly unique art collection.”
Montague said he “grew up asking the question, ‘Who am I?’ and I am drawn to artists who search for that same answer. The portraits in ‘Becoming’ reflect memory, nostalgia, history, achievement and promise. These things are all important to me.”
“Becoming” includes the work of several artists who will also be featured in a concurrent exhibition of African American portraits, “Let Your Motto Be Resistance,” at the North Carolina Central University Art Museum, opening Nov. 6.
Becoming: Photographs from the Wedge Collection is organized by Kenneth Montague of Wedge Curatorial Projects, Toronto. At the Nasher Museum, the exhibition is supported by Paula and Eugene Flood, the Graduate Liberal Studies program at Duke University, and Gail Belvett, DDS.
Related Programs and Events
September 27 Curator Talk 7 PM
Curator Dr. Kenneth Montague of Wedge Curatorial Projects talks with Trevor Schoonmaker, Patsy R. and Raymond D. Nasher Curator of Contemporary Art. Reception and cash bar to follow. Free and open to all.
October 20 Free Film: Mnemosyne 7 PM
A new film by celebrated English filmmaker and artist John Akomfrah. Free and open to all. Co-sponsored by Duke's Program in the Arts of the Moving Image.
October 27 Artist Talk 7 PM
English filmmaker and artist John Akomfrah. Co-sponsored by Duke's Center for Documentary Studies, Franklin Humanities Institute and Master of Fine Arts in Experimental & Documentary Arts. Free and open to all.
November 10 Art for All 7-10 PM
Celebrate Becoming and NCCU's Let Your Motto Be Resistance with student-organized open house events at both university art museums. Free and open to all.
December 1 First Thursday 5:30 PM Cash bar 6 PM Gallery talk
Meet Richard J. Powell, Duke's John Spencer Bassett Professor of Art and Art History, on "Becoming."
