Since its opening in 2015, the Herzfeld Center for Photography and Media Arts has proudly featured many world-renowned female artists working in photography, film, video, and digital media, specifically through solo exhibitions and special programming. These initiatives contribute to an institution-wide effort to highlight more women artists, challenging the art world’s male-dominated past.
As Women’s History Month comes to a close, we are looking back at some of the most recent Herzfeld Center exhibitions that have focused on women artists. Read below to learn more.
Sara Cwynar: Image Model Muse
March 8–July 21, 2019
Canadian-born, Brooklyn-based artist Sara Cwynar (b. 1985) explores through film and photography the subjects of color and design, the ways that they operate politically, socially, and historically, particularly in the context of how we conceptualize beauty. This first U.S. solo museum exhibition for the artist presents three of her latest films—Soft Film (2016), Rose Gold (2017), and Cover Girl (2018)—together with photographs from her ongoing Tracy series.
Co-organized with the Minneapolis Institute of Art
Supporting Sponsor:
Live Wire Productions
Exhibitions in the Herzfeld Center for Photography and Media Arts sponsored by:
Herzfeld Foundation
Madeleine and David Lubar
Visionaries:
John and Murph Burke
Sheldon and Marianne Lubar Charitable Fund
Mr. and Mrs. Joel Quadracci
Sue and Bud Selig
Mr. Jeffrey Yabuki
Helen Levitt: In the Street
January 27–April 16, 2017
American photographer Helen Levitt (1913–2009) captured the life of New York City’s sidewalks for over five decades, revealing through her work a unique “way of seeing” (the title of her 1965 book) rather than an overt message. This exhibition presented early black-and-white photographs, later color work, and Levitt’s film In the Street (1952).
Rineke Dijkstra: Rehearsals
September 9, 2016–January 1, 2017
Leading contemporary artist Rineke Dijkstra is internationally praised for her elegant and sensitive photographic and video work. This exhibition featured two of the Dutch artist’s large-scale video installations—portraits of young dancers during the precious years of early adolescence.
Penelope Umbrico: Future Perfect
May 5–August 7, 2016
Embracing the flood of images available in the Internet age, contemporary artist Penelope Umbrico sifts through millions of images shared on Craigslist, Flickr, and other social media sites and appropriates them as source material for her work. This exhibition featured over 30 photo-based installations—comprising nearly 5,000 individual images—along with photographs, videos, and books that trace Umbrico’s obsessive systems of inquiry and online research since 2006.