Intimate Strangers | Yancey Richardson
© Tommy Kha, Headtown V, Whitehaven, Memphis, 2019. Archival pigment print, 21 5/8 x 27 inches, Edition of 5 + 5 AP. Courtesy Yancey Richardson Gallery.
Written by Simran Tuteja
When we are born, our first relationship ever that we form is with our parents, and sometimes it can be the most endearing relationship we have. Other times, it can also be the most damaging, depending on our upbringing. Expanding on the same, 16 photographers and videographers decided to create visual art which is on display at the Yancey Richardson gallery from 12th July, 2023 until 18th August, 2023. Amongst the 16 artists whose works are on display are Mitch Epstein, David Hilliard, Tommy Kha, Justine Kurland, D’Angelo Lovell Williams, Marilyn Minter, Mickalene Thomas and many others. In their works, the artists have chosen a parent or parents as their subjects. They focus on social issues such as stigmas around aging, LGBTQIA+, and the American dream, and topics including immigration, addiction, black masculinity, amongst others.
© Mitch Epstein, Dad, Hampton Ponds III, 2002, from the series Family Business. Chromogenic print, 30 x 40 inches, Edition of 10+ 3 APs. Courtesy Yancey Richardson Gallery.
The aging of our parents acts as one of the central conflicts in our lives. The thought of our parents’ mortality as time passes coupled with the mere act of surviving becomes tough and scary. Drawing inspiration from his father’s aging, Mitch Epstein uses his old man as his subject. In his work, Dad, Hampton Pond III, 2002, Epstein’s 82-year-old father can be seen emerging from the blue waters. His father was a business leader in Holyoke, Massachusetts but his business collapsed due to bankruptcy. Skillfully, the artist has highlighted the vulnerabilities a person is exposed to due to aging by bringing focus on his father’s almost balding head with only minimal gray hair on the sides, and bandaged on the left arm. This image is taken from his series Family Business.
© Marilyn Minter, Coral Ridge Towers (Mom Dyeing Eyebrows), 1969. Gelatin silver print, printed 1995, 30 x 40 inches, AP 1/2. Courtesy Yancey Richardson Gallery.
Marilyn Minter found black and white photographs of her mother taken in 1969. The vivid images profoundly resonated as her mother rarely left the house, always dressed in a nightgown and shrouded in drug addiction and social anxiety. It wasn’t until 1994 that Minter showed the work. The pieces on display include Coral Ridge Towers (Mom in Negligé), 1969 and Coral Ridge Towers (Mom Dyeing Eyebrows), 1969. Other artists who drew inspiration from their parents’ aging include Larry Sultan who spent a decade photographing his parents.
© Larry Sultan, Practicing Golf Swing, 1986, from the series Pictures from Home. Archival pigment print, 40 x 50 inches, AP. Courtesy Yancey Richardson Gallery.
© Mickalene Thomas, Madame Mama Bush and Afro Goddess with Hands Between Legs, 2006/2008. Chromogenic print, two panels, Edition of 6. Courtesy Yancey Richardson Gallery.
In the two works named Madame Mama Bush, 2006 and Afro Goddess with Hand Between Legs, 2008 displayed as a diptych, Mickalene Thomas’s bare chested mother acts as a sensuous odalisque with her eyes closed in the first image and in the second image, the subject is staring directly at the camera. The artist sensually captures and celebrates the beauty and sexuality of her mother as a black woman. Her mother’s portraits inspired the artist’s concurrent and future works.
© D’Angelo Lovell Williams, Daddy Issues, 2019. Archival pigment print, 30 x 45 inches, Edition of 8. Courtesy Yancey Richardson Gallery.
Yancey Richardson gallery was founded in 1995 and since then, it has been representing photography, film, and lens-based artists. Above mentioned are only a few of the artists on display at the Intimate Strangers exhibition. Some of them have been previously exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, The Tate Museum, Centre Pompidou and other museums around the world. They have also been published multiple times in artist monographs, various art journals and critical texts.
