On Thursday, November 1, 2018 at 6:30pm, Philadelphia Photo Arts Center (PPAC) will host PPAC artist-in-residence John Edmonds for a discussion about “Higher.”
Edmonds is an American artist and photographer whose work explores themes of identity, community and desire. Noted for his highly formalist photographs in which he focuses on the performative gestures and self-fashioning of young Black men on the streets of America, his work is in numerous public and private collections including the Art Gallery of Ontario, The Columbus Museum of Art, The Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Brooklyn Museum. He is currently on faculty at the School of Visual Arts and Yale University and lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.
Published by Capricious this fall, “Higher” is a retrospective, 100-plus page monograph spanning the first 10 years of John’s photographic practice and includes texts by Dr. Aaron Rosen, visiting professor of sacred traditions and the arts at King’s College, London; Brooklyn-based writer Durga Chew-Bose and a conversation with New York-based artist Mickalene Thomas, who is best known for her elaborate paintings composed of rhinestones, acrylic and enamel.
John is one of four artists in PPAC’s 2018 Artist-in-Residence cohort. Annually, the Artist-in-Residence program provides regional, national and international artists with extensive professional support and access to advanced technical equipment while providing the public with unprecedented access to the creative processes of artists at the leading edge of the medium. Last year, PPAC worked with three resident artists to produce new photographic work as well as innovative and artist-driven programming to engage the public within the digital lab and gallery settings. Thanks to an increased $30,000 grant from the National Endowment of the Arts and a three-year, $75,000 grant from Joy of Giving Something, Inc., PPAC was able to take on a fourth artist this year.
The residency program not only provides a highly-specialized learning experience, but also opens the universal medium of photography to a deeper, more critical understanding as an art form for the 15,000 artists, students, and audience members who visit PPAC’s gallery and lab each year. Along with Edmonds, PPAC’s 2018 artists in residence are Saleem Ahmed, Jibade-Khalil Huffman, and Amiko Li.
John’s lecture and signing of Higher on Thursday, November 1 at 6:30pm are free and open to the public. To learn more, visit www.philaphotoarts.org.
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