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“MacArthur Genius” LaToya Ruby Frazier Introduces Her First Solo Photography Show in Chicago

Opening at the Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago, LaToya Ruby Frazier’s “The Last Cruze” will focus on the Rust Belt.  

Several of LaToya Ruby Frazier’s photographs from her first solo show have already been published in a feature story of the same name for The New York Times. Her black-and-white images showcase the devastation that occurs when factories shut down and workers are left behind. “What I'm doing in my work is asking the question, What does it look like when the media is gone and it’s no longer headline news? What does it look like to see a worker idle, their life idle, not just the plant? That's the most important part of this whole story,” Frazier says.

 

Frazier grew up in Braddock, Pennsylvania, a town ravaged by industrial decline, economic ruin, racism, and classism. It has become a central fixture of her work, most notably in her award-winning book The Notion of Family. Today, she continues to treat visual arts as a mode of social commentary. “This is my mission, my purpose, my life's work. And once I'm involved in someone's life photographically, these are relationships that go on forever.”

 

To book speaker LaToya Ruby Frazier for your next speaking event, contact a sales agent at The Lavin Agency today.

A “Poem of Contemporary America”: Teju Cole’s New Exhibition at Museum of Contemporary Photography

Go Down Moses, a new art exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, features 150 archival images depicting a longing for freedom. Selected to guest curate the exhibition is acclaimed author, photographer, and Harvard professor Teju Cole. 

Go Down Moses, an exhibition which uses photography to reflect on themes of freedom and suffering, marks Teju Cole’s first major curatorial debut. “They invited me to interpret their archive through a selection,” says Cole, who has spent the past four years as a photography critic for The New York Times. “They’re interested in how different people can see what is here.”
 
As for his process, Cole explained to The Guardian: “When I look at these photos, I’m looking at things we should be talking about: the future, climate change, the population, almost a cataclysm that has wiped out humanity.”
 
The project was named Go Down Moses after the well-known spiritual song, remembered for its significance in black history. “Though this exhibition is not about African American history, it certainly foregrounds it,” Cole told NPR. “There's a lot of black presence in the show because I'm a big believer in what blackness has to teach America.”
 
To book Teju Cole for your next speaking event, contact The Lavin Agency today, his exclusive speakers bureau.