Introduction to a Distant World by Alfredo Jaar ©

Alfredo Jaar, along with other established and emerging artists, are part of The Crude and the Rare at The Cooper Union, a group exhibition commentating on the customary extraction and transformation of natural resources, with the resulting symbolism attached to it. Materials such as diamonds and gold, for example, when first cut from the source are raw and unrefined, evoking a kind of curiosity. They are still seen as part of the earth, until they are shaped into fashionable pieces and become further separated from their origin. While some resources are strictly signs of status, others are manufactured for food and household usage. What is often not seen is the intricate process from mine to mass production-that of finding, transporting, and crafting such desired commodities.

In tandem with the exhibition will be a panel discussion on October 28th featuring Mark Dion, J. Henry Fair, Sara Jordenö, Sophie Ristelhueber, and moderated by Jeffrey Kastner. Click here for more information on the event.

The Crude and the Rare
On view: Tuesday, October 19 – Saturday, November 20, 2010

The Cooper Union
41 Cooper Square, Lower Level 1
New York, NY 10003
(212) 353-4200

In Aperture magazine, Issue 181, Abigail Solomon-Godeau discusses Jaar’s use of photographs-both seen and unseen.

Sway, 2009 by Jowhara AlSaud

Today is the first day to bid online for items in Aperture’s largest auction ever. Browse Aperture’s Auction Catalog which features photographic works by a diverse range of artists including Jowhara AlSaud, Diane Arbus, Bruce Davidson, Joel Meyerowitz, Richard Misrach, Graham Nash, Mickalene Thomas, Brian Ulrich, James Welling, Kehinde Wiley, Michael Wolf, and Hank Willis Thomas. For the first time ever Aperture is also presenting an Emerging Artists Auction with works by Timothy Briner, Jen Davis, Cig Harvey, Mark Lyon, LaToya Ruby Frazier, and Will Steacy, among many others. Online bidding will remain open through Monday, November 1st at 12:00 noon EST.

Aperture’s 2010 Benefit and Auction will take place at The Lighthouse, Chelsea Piers on November 1st honoring Richard Misrach, Steven Ames, and Julie Saul. Immediately following the Benefit Dinner and Live Auction, the SNAP! Benefit Party co-chaired by Hank Willis Thomas, Carolyn Francis, and Giovanni Tomaselli of Polaroid, will feature special guest DJs, a raffle, an open bar, lite bites and treats.

Click here to preview auction items and bid online

Click here for more details and to purchase tickets to the 2010 Benefit Dinner & Auction

Click here for more details and to purchase tickets to the SNAP! Benefit Party

Believe It by Hank Willis Thomas

Aperture’s 2010 Benefit and Auction print list features an eclectic roster of established and emerging artists who have or are making their mark in contemporary art. Included in this year’s Silent Auction, Aperture is pleased to present an exciting recent work by artist Hank Willis Thomas. Thomas, whose critically acclaimed monograph Pitch Blackness was released by Aperture in 2008, is perhaps best known for his internationally exhibited series Unbranded which deconstructs the representation of African Americans in advertisements made over a forty year span. Thomas’ newest body of work Fair Warning emerged from the making of Unbranded and highlights the visual dynamics of cigarette ads aimed at an African American audience whom have been historically disproportionately targeted by the tobacco industry. The images in Fair Warning are re-appropriated by Thomas using the same technique as Unbranded, logos are removed, text is left in snippets that transform intention juxtaposed with the model’s nonchalant hand gestures sans cigarettes and a consideration of the depiction of blackness being marketed.

Hank Willlis Thomas is also co-chairing Aperture’s first ever SNAP! Benefit Party which will follow the annual Benefit and Auction dinner along with Carolyn Francis and Giovanni Tomaselli of Polaroid, sponsor of SNAP! Hosted by Aperture’s SNAP! Young Patrons Program, this event will include an Emerging Artists Auction, the music stylings of DJs AJ Slim, Tim Barber of Tinyvices.com and Jeannie Hopper of LiquidSoundLounge.com and ARTonAIR.org, special raffle prizes and a tasty buffet of light bites.

Click here for more information and to purchase tickets to the SNAP! Benefit Party

Click here for more information and to purchase tickets to the Benefit and Auction dinner

Click here to view the Auction Catalog. Online bidding starts on October 18.

Patti Smith, a legendary musician and visual artist, can now add successful author to her repertoire. Nominated for a National Book Award, Just Kids is Smith’s first book of prose with glimpses into her personal life that have never before been revealed. She sheds light on her relationship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe during the creative explosion of New York City in the late sixties and seventies, a time of youth and unfaltering friendship for the pair.

Smith’s photography was featured in Aperture magazine, issue 185.

On November 16th, the night before the awards ceremony, Smith and other nominees will read from their nominated books in New York City. For more information, click here.

Jesus in the Guest Room by David Hilliard

In Tending to Doubt, David Hilliard examines the pursuit of spiritual identity (or lack thereof), particularly of loved ones. Similarities as well as juxtapositions in religious stance are presented, like images depicting both his atheist father, a divorced navy veteran and self-taught philosopher, and his pious mother, a regular churchgoer deeply devoted to Christianity. By working in a color panoramic style with his images split into two to five-part tableaux, a visual narrative is created. Although each section provides a different perspective of the whole photographic scene, viewers are able to put the pieces together as they see fit. See Hilliard’s first major monograph, published by Aperture, here. He was also featured in Aperture magazine, issue 177.

Tending to Doubt
On view: Friday September 10 – Saturday October 23, 2010

Jackson Fine Art
3115 East Shadowlawn Avenue
Atlanta, GA 30305
(404) 233-3739

photo by Zwelethu Mthethwa

Thursday, October 14th South African photographer Zwelethu Mthethwa will give an Artist’s Talk at Columbia College in Chicago. A solo show of Mthethwa’s photographs Inner Views is currently on view at the Studio Museum in Harlem through October 24th and the first comprehensive monograph of Mthethwa’s work was released by Aperture this past March. A key figure in South African photography, Mthethwa’s work depicts the domestic and working lives of working class South Africans, constructing dignified and intimate color portraits. Widely shown internationally and represented by the Jack Shainman gallery in New York, Mthethwa’s images challenge the historical conventions of his subject matter while building what he described as a “contemporary history” during his talk at Aperture in New York this past Spring. Mthethwa’s appearance at Columbia College will be a part of the school’s fall lecture series and will be followed by a book signing with the artist.

Zwelethu Mthethwa
Thursday, October 14, 6:00 PM

Columbia College
Stage Two 618 S. Michigan Avenue, 2nd Floor
Chicago, IL 60605

Click here to purchase Zwelethu Mthethwa’s self-titled monograph

Tania colouring her hair by Corinne Day

Each decade has its defining style in fashion; an imaginative trend (or set of trends) that spreads like wildfire into the wardrobe closets of all. For the 1990s, fashion was more of a feeling: individualism and finding personal forms became an intense interest. Many creative minds abandoned the glamorous and often superficial fashion realm in order to give their pieces a strong root in society. It resulted in a living, breathing art pulse that photographers of the decade couldn’t help but explore. Not in Fashion: Photography and Fashion in the 90s, the new group show exhibition at MMK, delves into this sort of anti-movement. Deeper investigations that peer into the dark side of the industry, like the grueling scenes behind the catwalk and the images of exhausted and seemingly anorexic models, were also made. The photographers featured include Aperture-published Jason Evans and Corinne Day.

Not in Fashion: Photography and Fashion in the 90s
On view Saturday, September 25, 2010 – Sunday, January 9, 2011

Museum fur Moderne Kunst
Domstrasse 10
60311 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
+49 (0) 69 21230447

photo by Paul Strand

The long awaited publication of Paul Strand in Mexico brings together photographs and documents never before published from a pivotal time is this seminal artist’s career. On the occasion of the release of this comprehensive volume and exhibition on view now, Aperture in association with The John B. Hurford ’60 Humanities Center at Haverford College has organized a two day symposium curated by scholar James Krippner, to take place at Aperture along with screenings of Strand’s films Manhatta & Redes taking place at the Cantor Film Center, NYU. This series of panels features prominent scholars and practitioners from the field discussing art historical context for this body of work by Strand from a number of perspectives. Join for any or all of the following discussions and events:

Friday, October 15
2:00 PM - Introduction by James Krippner

3:00 PM – Photographs as Historical Sources
Linda Gordon + John Mraz

4:30 PM – Strand, Mexico and Modernist Photography
Ester Gabara + Fred Ritchin

7:00 PM – Screening of Paul Strand’s Manhatta & Redes at the Cantor Film Center, NYU

Saturday, October 16th
2:00 PM – Photography in Mexico and United States Southwest
Anne Hammond + Leonard Folgarait

3:30 PM -Strand in the History of Photography
Mike Weaver + William Williams

5:00 PM – Final remarks by James Krippner

Aperture Foundation
547 West 27th Street, 4th Floor
New York, New York

Cantor Film Center, NYU
36 East 8th Street
New York, New York

All events are FREE and open to the public.

Click here for more information about the Paul Strand in Mexico Symposium

Click here to view new book Paul Strand in Mexico

Opening crowd

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All images courtesy of Elina Ruka.

Levi’s® kicked off their Photo Workshop in New York City with an amazing opening party on October 7th. The Levi’s® Photo Workshop is open to the public and runs until December 18th.

Click here for more information about the Levi’s® Photo Workshop.

Click here for information on the Artist Talk and Book Signing by Bruce Davidson, sponsored by Aperture.

Images copyright Paolo Ventura

Join internationally acclaimed artist Paolo Ventura for a round table discussion with Aperture book editor Denise Wolff and Cultural Attaché, Embassy of Italy, Renato Miracco as part of the Books and Beyond Series of the Library of Congress’s Center of the Book and to commemorate the gift of two handmade artist albums by Ventura to the Library’s Prints and Photographs Collection. A master of narrative staged photography, Ventura brings his imagined stories to life by building three-dimensional sets in miniature. In his most recent book, Winter Stories, he invents a moving series of photographs depicting scenes from the memory bank of a fictional circus performer as he looks back on his life. The talk will celebrate inspiration and process, presenting a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Winter Stories and sharing stories from Ventura’s life, as well as the elaborate handmade sets, drawings, ephemera, and personal collections that inform his work. He will also be available to sign copies of the book.

Tuesday, Oct. 12, 3:00 pm
Pickford Theater, third floor
Madison Building

Library of Congress
101 Independence Ave S.E.
Washington DC

Click here to view Aperture published monograph Paolo Ventura’s Winter Stories