‘Southbound’ and ‘Migrantes’ on display through
Dec. 3
CONWAY, Ark.
(August 20, 2021) – The Windgate Museum of Art (WMA) at Hendrix College is
pleased to announce the opening of its fall exhibitions, Southbound:
Photographs of and about the New South and Migrantes, on Friday,
Sept. 10, 2021.
Southbound: Photographs of and about the New South comprises
55 photographers’ visions of the South over the first decades of the 21st
century. The images
represent the photographers’ own contemplated response to their chosen
environments—no photographs were commissioned for the project. The Southbound
photographs provide the viewer with shifting pathways to moments of unbridled
joy and deep frustration, and, ultimately, to an understanding, however
fleeting, of this place, the New South.
The 220
photographs on display are complemented by an array of other instruments that
engage with the New South, ranging from cartography to poetry. A
digital-mapping environment is available in the Lobby Gallery and on the website. A documentary film
of Southbound artists and commentators can be viewed in the Lobby
Gallery and online. The project’s scholarly catalogue contains essays and poems
penned in response to the Southbound images. Southbound:
Photographs of and about the New South will be accompanied by a film
series, Cinema and the
Changing American South,
as well as a variety of programming activities. Southbound was organized
by the Halsey Institute
of Contemporary Art, College of Charleston School of the Arts, with support
from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Migrantes is an exhibition
dually created by photographer Adam Ferguson and the
subjects in the images. Ferguson traveled to migrant camps along the Mexican
border to photograph and interview migrants on their journey from their
homeland to their aspirational destination. First published in the New York
Times on July 1, what makes these photographs unique is the
self-determination created by the sitters operating the remote control to the
large format camera used by Ferguson. Their individual stories provide keen
insights of what their migration experience is like and what put them on the
path to immigration in the first place.
Printed
at five feet by four feet, the images are powerful statements of individual
courage and determination. Migrantes will be in the Window Gallery,
which is viewable 24/7 from outside the museum. The exhibition is curated by
Victor Gomez, Curatorial Assistant at the WMA and 2021 Hendrix graduate.
A wide variety of events are scheduled in
conjunction with the exhibitions, including curator and artist lectures, films
and discussion panels, artist residencies, and hands-on activities. To learn
more about those events, visit www.windgatemuseum.org.
All events will be held in person and reservations are required for each event.
Email windgatemuseum@hendrix.edu
to reserve your spot.
Visit www.windgatemuseum.org
for more information on WMA programming or follow @windgatemuseum on Instagram
and @WMAatHDX on Facebook, or contact Sarah Donaghy, Curator of Education, at
501-328-2385 or donaghy@hendrix.edu.
About the Windgate Museum of Art
The Windgate Museum of Art is the new art
museum located on the campus of Hendrix College. With a vision to be the
premier teaching art museum in Arkansas, the WMA presents outstanding art
exhibitions, compelling educational programs, and invigorating social
activities for students, faculty, staff, and visitors to campus. Free and open
to all, the museum uses hands-on experiences to train students in all facets of
museum work, including curatorial research, collection management, educational
and social programming, marketing, and communications, as well as all aspects
of exhibition research, planning, installation, and evaluation. The Windgate
Museum of Art is made possible with the generous support of the Windgate
Foundation and the Alice L. Walton Foundation.
Image credits:
Stacy Kranitz, Island
Road, from The Island series, Isle de Jean Charles, Louisiana, 2010, 16 x
24 inches, archival pigment print, courtesy of the artist
Adam Ferguson, Doris Lara, 31, Enrique Romero Municipal
Gymnasium, Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, 2021, 60 x 48 inches, archival pigment
print, courtesy of the artist