The
artists in FRESH: Youth Culture in Contemporary Photographs have made
the theme of youth and youth culture an integral part of their artistic
practice in either brief investigations or in extended series spanning the
past ten years. Several of the photographers in this exhibition were not
consciously drawn to the subject per se, nor have thought of it as it’s
own select genre. But for all of these artists, their interests in various
contemporary sub cultural phenomenon—urban lifestyles, modern tribes, the
underground, as well as the constructs of gender, race, and
identity—combined with aesthetic methodologies of staged photography,
portraiture, or documentation - have led them knowingly or unknowingly to
the subject.
FRESH attempts to define the emergence of this genre and includes seven artists who were selected for their diversity in aesthetic approach, age, and cultural perspective. The portraits of Dawoud Bey and Dennis Olanzo Callwood, the staged photographs of teenage girls by Justine Kurland, and the
documentary
photographs and films of graffiti kids and skateboarders by Cheryl Dunn
comment on the constructs that define youth during adolescence. The other
artists featured document the social practices and lifestyles emerging as
distinct cultures, but from the photographer’s perspective as an insider.
The trials, exploits, and collective passions of young adults are evident in
the work of Ari Marcopoulos, Ryan McGinley, and Nick
Waplington, who photograph youth collectives—snowboarders, global
nomads, and underground urban dwellers.
From
staged scenes and portraiture to real time visual chronicles, the exhibition
reveals the disparate worlds common to contemporary culture and
representative of youth as a complex state of mind and being.
Carlo McCormick
Dennis Olanzo Callwood
Cheryl Dunn
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