The Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) presents Natural Histories, Photographs by Barbara Bosworth, an exhibition on view April 14, 2012 to May 27, 2013.
Barbara Bosworth (born 1953), Blue Pool at the Sycamore, Novelty, 2008, Color inkjet print, ©Barbara Bosworth
The Year of Photography continues at the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM), with an exhibition of internationally renowned, Boston-based photographer, Barbara Bosworth. Natural Histories, Photographs by Barbara Bosworth encompasses images of the artist’s family and their interactions with the natural world. Spanning 20 years of life and death, Bosworth captures moments of reflection and intimacy with exceptional elegance and sensitivity, conveying the generational bonds that anchor us to family and home
“Featuring the oldest and youngest members of the family, these touching images explore the joy of youth and the wistfulness of aging, the nature of memory and the passage of time,” said Phillip Prodger, exhibition curator and PEM’s curator of photography. “Barbara has had major museum exhibitions across the country, but incredibly, she has never had a solo show in the Boston area. So we are especially proud to debut this important body of work here in New England.
“Natural Histories includes over 35 large-format color and black-and-white photographs, and a selection of bird eggs, drawings, and natural history dioramas handed down through the artist’s family. Throughout the photographs, radiant light appears, for example in the sky, a string of Christmas lights, or a jar full of fireflies. And like the snails, birds nests, and sharks teeth that she and her family collect, the artist’s photographs serve as time capsules recalling specific experiences. Deeply personal to the artist, many of these pictures will be appearing for the first time in the exhibition.
A Professor of photography at the Massachusetts College of Art, Bosworth has exhibited previously at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Phoenix Art Museum, and the Princeton University Art Museum, among others.
The Peabody Essex Museum, East India Square (161 Essex St) Salem, Massachusetts 01970.
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