Exhibition Review: Chester Higgins "The Indelible Spirit"
Chester Higgins (b. 1946) Father swinging son, Brooklyn, 1972. Gelatin silver print, printed c. 1972
Signed and numbered with artist stamps on verso 8 x 10 in. CHI-00029-SP
Written by: Andy Dion
Like whirlers falling from a tree or sun shining through branches, the photography of Chester Higgins seeks authenticity from our very surroundings. Higgins exemplifies an ability to capture the world through the seemingly mundane. When he composes portraits of models in a studio setting, the stills find a way to feel personal. His art reads as an ephemeral glimpse interrupted by a shutter, like a memory stored in the mind. Higgins strives to bring out the nature of his subjects and this is what can be seen and felt at The Indelible Spirit, Higgins’ latest exhibition and debut at the Bruce Silverstein Gallery.
Chester Higgins (b. 1946) Necklace, Atlanta, Georgia 1974. Gelatin silver print, printed c. 1990s
Signed and numbered with artist stamps on verso 10 x 8 in. CHI-00225-SP
The exhibit additionally serves as a primer for Higgins’ early work, starting from the 1960s and onward through the 1990s. Higgins possesses a prolific reputation, sharing spaces with stars like King Curtis, Aretha Franklin and Bob Marley. His dynamic shots of performers on stage carry the heat of the lights, the smell of the stadium and the thrill of seeing great musicians in the flesh. Higgins excels at capturing the spirit of ordinary people. In “Harold McDugall and Gay Elaine Johnson Wedding, Atlanta, Georgia, 1971,” a mirthful moment is unencumbered by pretense. In a single photograph Higgins wrings out a vivid story of a day in the life, of a memory just barely palpable within the image.
Chester Higgins (b. 1946) Aretha Franklin at the Apollo, Harlem, New York 1971. Gelatin silver print, printed c. 1972
Signed and titled with artist sticker on verso 10 x 8 in. CHI-00330-SP
Displaying the talent to see the extraordinary in ordinary people, Higgins also extends his lens to landscapes. He offers impressions of New York in a past life through images of sharply dressed teenagers and neon-signed coffee shops in a balmy daylit 1970s Harlem. “Rainy Times Square, Manhattan, 1969” shows a gift shop now leveled and completely altered in the present day. Photographs displaying nature, like “Basin Fishing, Accra, Ghana, 1973,” flaunt his unique ability to see the true window into the subject’s soul. Whether his models are the earth itself or a celebrity on stage, Higgins exhibits his models’ beauty with a snap of the shutters.
Chester Higgins (b. 1946) Lance and Lori, Manhattan 1990. Gelatin silver print, printed c. 1990
Signed and titled with artist stamp on verso 8 x 10 in. CHI-00094-SP
Higgins refers to a central facet of his work as “interior portraiture.” His portraits give ample room for his models, who may end up cropped within the frame, but are never obscured. In candid shots, he captures the most banal and yet poignant moments imaginable. A couple dances in a club, lit by flash that highlights the sweat built up in their shirts. A woman sits in the back of a car, her face blurred in a poetic soft focus, indicating movement. Higgins masterfully exhibits his subject’s visage, letting shadows and light speak through the photograph to its viewers in a way that boldly announces every emotion his subjects feel.
Chester Higgins (b. 1946) A serving dish, Ghana 1973. Gelatin silver print, printed c. 1992-1993
Signed and numbered with artist stamp on verso 20 x 24 in. CHI-00279-SP
In searching for the “signature of the spirit,” the aptly named The Indelible Spirit contains gently presented moments that embody the soul he seeks to display. Whether on the dew-stained streets of New York City, between the parting glances of strangers or the unseen intimacy of a simple embrace, Higgins truly discovers the thread that connects us all.
