“HISTORY / HER STORY” presents the work of Abbey Hepner, Jessamyn Lovell, Delilah Montoya, Cara Romero, Kali Spitzer and Laurie Tümer, six artists who take innovative approaches to their chosen mediums and who engage with themes of ethnicity, identity, land use, and the environment. 

The exhibition includes more than 60 objects showcasing a range of early and new works by each artist and also include a special presentation of Maria Varela's Civil Rights photographs from the 1960s which will be on view June 23 through July 29, 2017 at David Richard Gallery. The artists were selected by the NMC 20th Anniversary Committee, David Eichholtz and Howard Rutkowski.

“HISTORY / HER STORY is an opportunity to celebrate emerging and mid-career New Mexican women photographers,” said Eva Borins, President of the New Mexico State Committee “We are delighted to showcase these six exceptional artists and to bring their works into the greater consciousness of New Mexico.”

“This group of women photographers is linked by their personal journeys, and their individual approaches to illuminating deeply held beliefs,” said David Eichholtz, gallery owner at DavidRichard Gallery.

About the artist's work:

Abbey Hepner’s Transuranic series provides a close-up look at the radioactive waste at sites in the western United States. Her accompanying snow globes trap modern-day nuclear landscapes in miniature.

Jessamyn Lovell works with photography, video, and surveillance as tools to document her own life experiences making connections between class and personal identity. Her D.I.Y. P.I. consists of tangible and ephemeral materials related to commissions from interested parties. These physical art works take their form in photography, video, and hand made books and other objects.

Delilah Montoya explores the unusual relationships that result from negotiating different ways of viewing, conceptualizing, representing and consuming the worlds found in the Southwest from her own perspective as a feminist Chicana artist from a matriarchal family. Montoya’s Casta Portraiture employs photographic constructions including a family portrait accompanied by racial identifying information.

Cara Romero’s work, a mélange of fine art and documentary style, is often whimsical and with a complex interplay of social commentary, adaptation and examination of modern culture with a distinctly modern indigenous world view.

Kali Spitzer challenges pre-conceived notions of race, gender and identity through her portraits. For her series, An Exploration of Resilience, Spitzer  photographed her community of mostly indigenous and mixed heritage people through the timeless format of the tintype.

Laurie Tümer’s Glowing Evidence series borrows from science to simulate the ubiquitous presence of pesticides and other environmental contaminants that we can’t normally see – in our homes, gardens, and in our bodies.  Her animated lenticular prints allow viewers to experience the seen and unseen in one photograph..

Publication

A printed catalog with an essay by Kathryn M Davis is underwritten by the Barbara Erdman Foundation. The catalog will be available at the exhibition.

Exhibition Opening: 

Friday, June 23 5:00 - 7:00 PM

David Richard Gallery 

Film Screening:

Dorothea Lange: Grab a Hunk of Lightning with Dyanna Taylor

Friday, June 30 6:30 PM

CCA (Center for Contemporary Arts)

1050 Old Pecos Trail, Santa Fe, NM

Tickets: CCASantaFe.org

Grab A Hunk of Lightning, a 110-minute film narrated and directed by Dorothea Lange’s granddaughter, award-winning filmmaker Dyanna Taylor, tells the compelling story of the passion, vision, and drive that made Lange one of the most important documentary photographers of the 20th century.  While Lange’s haunting image The Migrant Mother is one of the most recognized photographs in the world, few know the full range and depth of Lange’s work or the suffering and sensitivity that drew her to empathize with the people she photographed. Grab A Hunk of Lightning brings the wide scope of Lange’s work and sensibility to the screen.

Panel Discussion:

The Power of Photography   

Wednesday, July 12 6:30 - 8:00 PM

Featuring Kathryn M Davis, Lucy Lippard and Maria Varela

moderated by Merry Scully

Tickets:  newmexicowomeninthearts.org

David Richard Gallery

Artist Gallery Talk:

Wednesday, July 5, 6:30 - 8:00 PM

Featuring artist Delilah Montoya, Kali Spitzer and Laurie Tümer - moderated by Laura Addison

David Richard Gallery

Artist Gallery Talk:

Wednesday, July 19, 6:30 - 8:00 PM

Featuring artists - Abbey Hepner, Jessamyn Lovell and Cara Romero - moderated by Katherine Ware

David Richard Gallery

Jessamyn Lovell D. I. Y. P. I. discussion and performance:

Saturday, June 24, 4:00 - 5:00 PM

Saturday, July 8, 4:00 - 5:00 PM

Saturday, July 22, 4:00 - 5:00 PM

David Richard Gallery

About the New Mexico State Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts

The New Mexico State Committee (NMC) of the National Museum of Women in the Arts celebrates its twentieth anniversary of its founding in 1997. NMC supports the mission of the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, DC and also brings recognition to the achievements of New Mexico women artists.

About David Richard Gallery
 

Since its inception the gallery has produced museum quality exhibitions that feature Post War abstraction in the US. The presentations have addressed specific decades and geographies as well as certain movements and tendencies. While the gallery has long been recognized as an important proponent of post-1960s abstraction—including both the influential pioneers as well as a younger generation of practitioners in this field—in keeping with this spirit of nurture and development the gallery presents established and very new artists who embrace more gestural and representational approaches to the making of art as well as young emerging artists.
 

In 2015 David Richard Gallery launched DR Projects to provide a platform for artists of all stripes—international, national, local, emerging and established—to present special solo projects or participate in unique collaborations or thematic exhibitions. The goal is to offer a fresh look at contemporary art practice from a broad spectrum of artists and presentations. 

Barbara Erdman Foundation

The Barbara Erdman Foundation provides support for the exhibition, HISTORY / HER STORY.  Barbara Erdman Foundation's generosity makes possible this special 20th anniversary exhibition of the New Mexico State Committee of the Natiional Museum of Women in the Arts.

The photography exhibition and artists talks in our gallery during July are part of PhotoSummer 2017