Black Mountain College Museum offers exhibition of the school’s photographers

Press release from Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center:

While thousands of photographs were made at Black Mountain College there has not been a detailed examination of photography at the College. Begin to See: The Photographers of Black Mountain College will be the first in-depth exhibition and catalog devoted to this topic.

The individuals who taught photography at Black Mountain College today are recognized as some of the medium’s finest artists—Barbara Morgan, Harry Callahan, Aaron Siskind—and also those who wrote its history and helped establish a place for photography in museums—Beaumont Newhall and Nancy Newhall. Some of these instructors and visiting photographers–Josef Breitenbach, Robert Haas, Clemens Kalischer, and Helen M. Post—provide us with unique views into the college. Josef Albers also made photographs, and this exhibition will examine his engagement with the medium.

Students who took photography courses at Black Mountain College, and for whom involvement with the medium had a lasting impact include Hazel Larsen Archer, Martha McMillan Roberts, Robert Rauschenberg, Cy Twombly, Stan VanDerBeek, and Jonathan Williams. Other students who were exposed to photography at BMC include Jacqueline Herrmann Gourevitch, Will Hamlin, and Andy Oates, the College’s first (and only) graduate in photography.

Curator Julie J. Thomson says, “Many of the photographs made at Black Mountain College reflect the personal vision of the photographer who made them. With this exhibition I hope to foster attentiveness to the individuals behind the camera and how their unique vision is part of their photographs.”

Photography began as an informal workshop at Black Mountain College in the 1930s. In the 1940s visiting photographers gave some instruction, and starting in 1944 photography courses were offered during the College’s summer sessions. In fall 1949 photography began to be offered as part of the school’s regular curriculum, with former student Hazel Larsen Archer being appointed the first full-time instructor in photography. Photographic education at Black Mountain College often focused on learning to see photographically, making photographs, and the medium’s history.

Begin to See will feature over 70 photographs by a variety of artists including Josef Albers, Hazel Larsen Archer, Josef Breitenbach, Harry Callahan, Trude Guermonprez, Robert Haas, Will Hamlin, Ray Johnson, Clemens Kalischer, Barbara Morgan, Beaumont Newhall, Nancy Newhall, Andy Oates, Robert Rauschenberg, Aaron Siskind, Stan VanDerBeek, Susan Weil, and Jonathan Williams.

An 80-page, fully illustrated catalog will accompany this exhibition, available for purchase in the museum’s store and through the website. The following public programs will accompany this exhibition.

CONVERSATION
Saturday, January 21, 2:00 p.m.

With Julie J. Thomson, curator of Begin to See, Michael Beggs, former researcher at the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation and expert on Josef Albers’ photographic work, and Heather South, lead archivist at the Western Regional Archives. Moderated by Diana Stoll, longtime Senior Editor at the Aperture Foundation.

FILM FESTIVAL: Frame + Form | Screen Dance Festival
Friday, February 24, Screening, 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, February 25, Workshop, 1:00 – 5:00 p.m.

Presented in collaboration with The Media Arts Project, this two-day festival and workshop features dance created specifically for film and video. The first of its kind in Asheville, the festival will include a hands-on video/movement workshop, discussion, and presentations alongside screening of contemporary and historical films including work by Black Mountain College teacher Merce Cunningham.

[Re]HAPPENING
Saturday, March 25, 3:00 – 10:00 p.m.
This annual, interdisciplinary performance event returns in 2017, at the Lake Eden campus of Black Mountain College. Join dozens of local artists alongside Chicago’s Third Coast Percussion and New York-based choreographer John Heginbotham.

FILM SCREENING

Thursday, April 6, 7:00 p.m.
This evening of short films celebrates three well-known photographers who taught at BMC (Harry Callahan, Barbara Morgan, and Aaron Siskind) and one who visited (Rudy Burckhardt). The films and the photographers will be introduced by Eric Baden, Photography Professor at Warren Wilson College.

WORKSHOP: The Elegant Mystery of Pinhole Photography

Saturday, April 8, 9:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Presented in collaboration with The Asheville Darkroom and taught by Bridget Conn, former director of The Asheville Darkroom, this hands-on workshop will introduce participants to the lo-tech beauty of pinhole photography.

The Black Mountain College Museum + Arts Center (BMCM+AC) preserves and continues the legacy of educational and artistic innovation of Black Mountain College. We achieve our mission through collection, conservation, and educational activities including exhibitions, publications, and public programs. The museum is open Monday and Wednesday through Saturday, 11:00–5:00 p.m. Admission is by donation. www.blackmountaincollege.org.

 

Julie J. Thomson is an independent scholar and curator who lives in Durham, NC. She has been researching and writing about photographers at Black Mountain College since 2015 and the artist Ray Johnson since 2006. Her writing has appeared in the Journal of Black Mountain College Studies and Raw Vision, among other publications.