The Newark Museum presents Posing Beauty African American Images From the 1890s to the Present on view through 04.28.2011.
Posing Beauty explores the ways in which African American beauty has been represented in the media in both historical and contemporary contexts. In three thematic sections, “Constructing a Pose,” “Body and Images,” and “Modeling Beauty and Beauty Contests.” This exhibition examines contemporary understandings of beauty by framing the notion of aesthetics, race, class and gender within art, popular culture, and political contexts. Posing Beauty features approximately nearly 100 works drawn from public and private collections and will be accompanied by a book by the curator of the exhibition, Dr. Deborah Willis, Chair of the Photography and Imaging Department at New York University, Tisch School of the Arts.
Posing Beauty consists 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.
+ Body and Images questions the ways in which our contemporary understanding of beauty has been constructed and framed through the body.
+ Modeling Beauty and Beauty Contests invites a deeper reading 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 is curated by Deborah Willis and organized by Curatorial Assistance, Pasadena, California.
Image: Lauren Kelley Pickin’ 2007 Color-coupler print 23 1/8 x 23 1/8 in. Courtesy of the artist and Artist Pension Trust Global
www.newarkmuseum.org