This N' That: 2/8/21
By Maxxe Albert-Deitch
In Memoriam of Ricky Powell, American Photographer
Ricky Powell passed away on February 1, 2021. He was an American photographer, born and who spent his life chronicling hip hop, punk rock, and pop culture in New York City. Powell, known for capturing the world around him with a point-and-shoot camera, quit his job selling lemon ices out of a street car to join the popular band the Beastie Boys (he would stay with them as their resident photographer until 1994). From that moment, one of America’s most iconic photographers was born. He photographed Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, and Andy Warhol. He documented New York’s underground hip hop and rock ‘n’ roll culture, providing a candid, honest view of fashion, street art, and the idea of what it meant to be an artist in New York at the end of the twentieth century.
Powell’s published works, comprising a retrospective look back at Powell’s photography career, include Oh Snap! The Ralph Photography of Ricky Powell (1998), The Rockford Files: Classic New York Photographs (2000), Frozade Moments: Classic Street Photography of Ricky Powell (2004), and Public Access: Ricky Powell Photographs 1985-2005 (2005).
© Chris Curreri, Kiss Portfolio, 2016. Courtesy the artist and Daniel Faria Gallery, Toronto
The Exposure Photography Festival Returns, Both Virtually and In Person
The Exposure Photography Festival runs from February 1-February 28, 2021, both online and in various venues in Alberta, Canada. Exposure is a free annual festival celebrating both international and local Canadian photography. The exhibitions of this festival present the work of photographers who incorporate and challenge the medium of photography, promising an exciting and diverse program of group and solo shows.
http://www.exposurephotofestival.com/
The New York African Film Festival Returns Virtually
The 28th New York African Film Festival returns virtually, running from February 4-March4, 2021 under the banner, “Notes from Home: Recurring Dreams and Women’s Voices.” This year’s festival program includes films by and about African women, celebrating the beauty and strength of women as catalysts fro change, providing a female perspective on the changing roles of women in African society. Over the last nearly-thirty years,The NYAFF has built a reputation for celebrating emerging or under-recognized filmmakers, including women and members of the LGBTQ+ community, while simultaneously introducing diverse audiences to pressing issues affecting the people of Africa and the African Diaspora. This year’s festival is presented virtually in partnership with Film at Lincoln Center and in partnership with Maysles Documentary Center.
https://africanfilmny.org/
© Laura Aguilar, Three Eagles Flying, 1990. Three gelatin silver prints, 24 x 20 inches each. © Laura Aguilar / Courtesy of the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Purchase, with funds from the Director's Discretionary Fund. 2019.393a-c
Laura Aguilar Retrospective Show Gives Voice to Latinx LGBTQ+ Identity
Show and Tell, the Laura Aguilar retrospective, runs from February 6- May 9, 2021, at the Leslie Lohman Museum of Art in New York City. This show is Aguilar’s first retrospective, assembling more than 70 works from the last thirty years. A celebrated Chicana artist, Aguilar uses photography and videography to discuss her identity as a member of LGBTQ+, Latinx, and feminist communities. Aguilar’s use of her own body disrupts normative notions of beauty, combining personal discovery with political activism. Show and Tell is organized by the Vincent Price Art Museum in collaboration with the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center and is guest curated by Sybil Venegas.
https://www.leslielohman.org/exhibitions/laura-aguilar-show-and-tell
