On view: March 12–April 25, 2010
Vine Street Studios, 1113 Vine St. Houston, TX 77002
Spring Street Studios, 1824 Spring St. Houston, TX 77007
Winter Street Studios, 2101 Winter St, Houston, TX 77007
Williams Towers, 2800 Post Oak Blvd. Houston, TX 77056
Installation view of Lalla Essaydi's photographs in the FotoFest 2014 Biennial View From Inside at FotoFest. Photo courtesy of Nash Baker.
In the 20th century, the cultural and economic dominance of the United States after World War II has led some scholars to call this period the “American Century.” U.S. photographers in the last century developed themes and styles that would come to be an important part of contemporary art in the United States. In 2010, FotoFest turns its attention, for the first time, to the subject of Contemporary U.S. Photography with its Thirteenth International Biennial of Photography and Photo-related Art.
“The 2010 Biennial shows the different perspectives of photographic art being created today and the perspectives of a new generation of curators,” says FotoFest Artistic Director Wendy Watriss.
The Road to Nowhere?
Curated by: Natasha Egan, Deputy Director, Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago
Natasha Egan’s selections explore the United States at the close of the “American Century” as the nation negotiates its transition from Cold War superpower to an embattled, economically fragile nation. Ms. Egan says, “The artists in this exhibition address a repertoire of diverse but related themes including politics, surveillance, race, war, and economic insecurity. While the work is oftentimes critical, a quintessentially American optimism is evident.” Ms. Egan’s selections include: Sheila Pree Bright, Jeff Brouws, Tim Davis, Myra Greene, Eirik Johnson, Erika Larson, Jason Lazarus, An-My Lê, Nic Nicosia, David Oresick, Trevor Paglen, Greta Pratt, Michael Robinson, Victoria Sambunaris, Christina Seely, Paul Shambroom, Greg Stimac, and Brian Ulrich.
Whatever Was Splendid: New American Photographs
Curated by: Aaron Schuman, Independent Curator, Editor, Founder, SeeSaw online magazine
Aaron Schuman explores the legacy and continued influence of a “thoroughly modern photographic figure,” Walker Evans. “The striking similarities between Evans’s time and our own have become all too clear,” says Mr. Schuman. “Bearing this in mind, I began to investigate his profound influence on how the United States is still responded to, regarded, recognized and represented within photography today.” The artists in Mr. Schuman’s exhibition are: Will Steacy, Michael Schmelling, Greg Stimac, Tema Stauffer, Jason Lazarus, Jane Tam, Richard Mosse, Craig Mammano, Todd Hido, Hank Willis Thomas, and RJ Shaughnessy.
Assembly: Eight Emerging Photographers from Southern California
Curated by: The curatorial team from the Wallis Annen¬berg Department of Photography, Los Angeles County
Museum of Art LACMA)
Charlotte Cotton and Edward Robinson are both transplants to Southern California. Their exhibition and the artists’ work in it, are a reflection of the region’s place in the American mythos. Mr. Robinsons explains, “The cultural legacy of Southern California has engaged in an ongoing dialogue between utopian ideals and apocalyptic apprehension – the boosterism of the ‘end of the road’ state heralded for its promise and abundance, in contrast to concerns about the fragility of its natural and constructed environment.” The selected artists are: Nicole Belle, Matthew Brandt, Peter Holzhauer, Whitney Hubbs, Matt Lipps, Joey Lehman Morris, Asha Schechter, and Augusta Wood.
Medianation: Performing for the Screen
Curated by: Gilbert Vicario, Curator, Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines, Iowa; Former Assistant Curator of Latin American Art and Latino Art, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
As a curator of contemporary art, Gilbert Vicario sees photography as just one of several media, including video, installation and performance, used by contemporary artists. In Medianation, Mr. Vicario, “explores the interrelationship between the digital image and notions of process and performance in contemporary art. Taking the media as a starting point and as an undeniable (though not unique) American phenomenon, artists in Medianation explore political, sexual, and cultural issues in a moment when the demise of traditional forms of communication: radio, television, film, and photography are giving way to an explosion of digitally-based forms of social interaction including Facebook and Twitter to file and video sharing sites such as YouTube, Xtube, MySpace.” Artists include: Leslie Hall, Susanne Jirkuff, Adria Julia, Kalup Linzy, Daniel Joseph Martinez, Laurel Nakadate, Sandra Valenzuela, and Emilio Chapela.
Discoveries of the Meeting Place
Drawn from FotoFest’s famous portfolio review program, Discoveries of the Meeting Place showcases outstanding U.S. and international work discovered at the FotoFest International Meeting Place portfolio review in the FotoFest 2008
Biennial.
This exhibit is the eighth in a series that has proven to be a launching pad for photographic careers. As a showcase for some of the best work discovered at the FotoFest’s previous Biennial portfolio review, the Discoveries exhibition presents work chosen by ten reviewers/curators. Artists selected for the 2010 Discoveries exhibit are:
Andy Freeberg, (Mill Valley, CA), selected by Karen Sinsheimer, Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, CA
Judy Haberl, (Newtonville, MA), selected by Rhonda Wilson, Rhubarb-Rhubarb, Birmingham, UK
Liz Hickok, (San Francisco, CA), selected by Rixon Reed, Photo-eye, Santa Fe, NM
Emma Livingston, (Buenos Aires, Argentina), selected by Darren Ching & Debra Klomp Ching, KlompChing Gallery, NY
Toby Morris, (Los Angeles, CA), selected by Charles Stainback, Norton Museum of Art, West Palm Beach, FL
Rachel Papo, (Brooklyn, NY), selected by Christopher Tannert, Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin
Dona Schwartz, (Minneapolis, MN), selected by William Ewing, Musee de l’Elsee, Lausanne, Switzerland
Chris Sims, (Efland, NC), selected by Pippa Oldfield, Impressions Gallery, Bradford, UK
Sara Terry, (Los Angeles, CA), selected by Sue Brisk, Magnum Photo, NY
Ion Zupcu, (Hopewell Junction, NY), selected by Madeline Yale, Houston Center for Photography, Houston, TX
ADDITIONAL CONTEMPORARY U.S. PHOTOGRAPHY BIENNIAL PROGRAMS
FotoFest’s exhibitions are joined by over 100 other independent exhibitions at venues across Houston, Galveston, and surrounding counties participating in the FotoFest 2010 Biennial. Participating Spaces include the city’s major museums and commercial galleries, non-profit spaces, artist-run spaces, corporate spaces, and retail establishments that choose to exhibit photographic art as part of the FotoFest Biennial.
Inspired by the FotoFest 2010 Biennial theme, Contemporary U. S. Photography, this companion film series, programmed by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Film Department, includes an acclaimed documentary about the late photographer Julius Shulman, a juried shorts showcase, and two documentaries about legendary photographer Robert Frank (b. 1924), whose films are archived and distributed by the museum.
One of the most anticipated and praised events of the Biennial, the Meeting Place Portfolio Reviews welcomed 520 artists from 31 countries who shared their work with 172 reviewers from 24 countries. Several days of professional exchange, which provide career-building opportunities for participating artists, the Meeting Place is one of the distinctive features of the FotoFest Biennial and its stories are countless.
FotoFest sponsored two media workshops as part of the FotoFest 2010 Biennial. The workshops bring media and marketing experts, artists, curators, and editors together to share their expertise and experience in art, the internet, social media networks, and multi-media platforms.
The FotoFest Fine Print Auction provided a rare opportunity to encounter and acquire high-quality contemporary fine art photography from five continents. Conducted by Denise Bethel, Sotheby’s Senior Vice President and Director of Photographs Department, it played to a full house of 400 people at the Doubletree Hotel Houston Downtown.
FotoFest co-published the 2010 Biennial Catalogue, with European publisher Schilt Publishing (Amsterdam, The Netherlands). The 500-page, two-volume 2010 Biennial catalogue features more than 300 full-color images and five essays by Biennial curators on Contemporary U.S. Photography.
2010 BIENNIAL SPONSORS
Generous funding for this publication, exhibition, and related programs is provided by:
The Houston Endowment, Inc; The Cullen Foundation; ROMA Moulding; The Brown Foundation, Inc; National Endowment for the Arts; JPMorgan Chase; The Eleanor and Frank Freed Foundation; City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance; Doubletree Hotel Houston Downtown; Texas Commission on the Arts; The Clayton Fund; Trust for Mutual Understanding; Continental Airlines - The Official Airline of the FotoFest 2010 Biennial; The Wortham Foundation; American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP); Iland Internet Solutions; HexaGroup; Vine Street Studios; The Asian Cultural Council; Central Houston; The Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau. Media Partners: Art in America; KUHF 88.7 FM; European Photography; Paris Photo; Glasstire.
ROMA is the exclusive framer for the 2010 FotoFest Biennial.
Major funding for the FotoFest 2010 Biennial Catalogue was provided by The Eleanor and Frank Freed Foundation.
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