The Moss Arts Center’s fall exhibitions explore the complex and revealing realities that inspire people to gather together through two distinct lenses — one shows gatherings in protest of police violence and social inequities, while the other portrays celebratory gatherings of two distinct American communities in the 1970s and ’80s.
Featuring the work of acclaimed American photographers Sheila Pree Bright and Larry Fink, these two one-person photographic exhibitions open with a reception on Thursday, Sept. 9, from 5 to 7 p.m., in the Grand Lobby of the Moss Arts Center, 190 Alumni Mall. The galleries and all related events are free and open to the public.
Bright is a fine arts photographer who captures individuals and communities that are often unseen. This exhibition in the Ruth C. Horton Gallery includes large-scale photographs that poignantly portray the Black Lives Matter movement and responses to police shootings in Atlanta, Ferguson, Mo,; Baltimore, Washington, D.C.; and Baton Rouge. Interspersed throughout the exhibition as a counterpoint to preconceived stereotypes are images of middle class African American suburban communities. Bright has also created a new work commissioned by the Moss Arts Center that will make its debut in this exhibition.
Based in Atlanta, Bright’s work has been exhibited widely in group exhibitions and is in the collection of the High Museum of Art and the Smithsonian National Museum of African History and Culture.
This exhibition is curated by Margo Crutchfield, former curator at large for the Moss Arts Center.
Best known for his intimate black and white images of lively social events across various class and cultural spaces, this exhibition of Fink’s work in the Miles C. Horton Jr. Gallery and the Sherwood Payne Quillen ’71 Reception Gallery includes a selection of photographic prints that spotlight the role of clothing and adornment in celebratory gatherings in two distinct American cultures during the 1970s and ’80s: the glamorous high society of New York City and the spirited country life of Martins Creek, Pennsylvania.
These prints from Fink’s “Social Graces” series are from the Virginia Tech art collection and donors Scott and Emily Freund and Michael and Jennifer Fay. The exhibition also features period-appropriate garments on loan from the Oris Glisson Historic Textile and Costume Collection, which is housed in Virginia Tech’s Department of Apparel, Housing, and Resource Management, as well as private collections.
Born in Brooklyn, and now living and working in Martins Creek, Fink has had solo exhibitions at prestigious institutions, such as the Museum of Modern Art, has received a number of fellowships and awards, including two John Simon Guggenheim Fellowships; and has held teaching positions at Yale University, Cooper Union, and Bard College. Bridging a divide between editorial fashion and fine art, his work has been published in such magazines as The New Yorker and Vanity Fair and has been exhibited in Giorgio Armani’s Armani/Silos fashion art museum in Milan, Italy.
The center’s galleries are open on Wednesday through Friday from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. The exhibitions will be on view through Nov. 20.
