Observance: As I See You, You See Me
Observance: As I See You, You See Me a group exhibition of photographic portraits curated by Leonie Bradbury, featuring the work of Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons, Caleb Cole, DEAD ART STAR, Ervin A. Johnson, and Juan Jose Barboza-Gubo & Andrew Mroczek. Each photographer explores how identity is constructed through the lens of the cultural, political, and personal circumstances of their subject. Bradbury is particularly interested in the role and responsibility of the photographer in framing the way a subject’s identity is portrayed. Additionally, the exhibition establishes a paradigm wherein the viewer becomes aware of their own subjectivity and identity in relation to the subjects portrayed in the photographs.
The exhibition will feature several large scale (self-)portraits of the artist by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons selected from several series spanning the past seven years. Born in Cuba, but exiled in the US for decades, Campos-Pons uses metaphor, memory, and symbolism to address issues such as home, immigration and identity. At a time when the political climate regarding Cuba is rapidly changing and unstable, Campos-Pons’ evocatively tells the stories of her own life, as well as, the collective experience of her fellow Cubans and in doing so addresses the complex ways that history affects the present moment. It is not always clear what is happening in the images, but the elements of entrapment, confusion, and obscurity are present in all four selected works. This state of uncertainty and ambiguity is passed onto the viewer who is asked to wonder what the images are about, what they mean, and/ or use their imagination and meet the artist half way. Campos-Pons’ images powerfully visualize tragedy and human suffering, but also survival and do so through visual poetry.