This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/14/us/john-edmonds-interview.html
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Speaking to the Future: How the Photographer John Edmonds Captures ‘the Real and the Imagined’ the Imagined’ the Imagined’ the Imagined’ | |
| (2 days later) | |
| The artist shares his thoughts on five recent works that incorporate African art objects and explore representations of the black body. | The artist shares his thoughts on five recent works that incorporate African art objects and explore representations of the black body. |
| By Pierre-Antoine Louis | By Pierre-Antoine Louis |
| Please sign up here to have the Race/Related newsletter delivered weekly to your inbox. | Please sign up here to have the Race/Related newsletter delivered weekly to your inbox. |
| The work of the Brooklyn-based artist and photographer John Edmonds has been noted for its striking formalism and exploration of identity, sexuality and desire among black communities — black lovers, friends, acquaintances and complete strangers. | The work of the Brooklyn-based artist and photographer John Edmonds has been noted for its striking formalism and exploration of identity, sexuality and desire among black communities — black lovers, friends, acquaintances and complete strangers. |
| This year, his work was shown in the Whitney Biennial. In May, he will have his first solo museum exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum. | This year, his work was shown in the Whitney Biennial. In May, he will have his first solo museum exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum. |
| One of Mr. Edmonds’s ambitions as an artist, he says, is for viewers to walk away thinking more deeply about their relationship to a place, person or thing. It was a central idea behind a recent exhibition at Company Gallery, in which the photographs on view explored representations of the black body and the spiritual and emotional value of African art objects. | One of Mr. Edmonds’s ambitions as an artist, he says, is for viewers to walk away thinking more deeply about their relationship to a place, person or thing. It was a central idea behind a recent exhibition at Company Gallery, in which the photographs on view explored representations of the black body and the spiritual and emotional value of African art objects. |
| “I like the way that in all these pictures, there’s a kind of oscillation between the real and the imagined,” Mr. Edmonds, 30, said. The pictures, he added, are about the space between who someone is in the real world and who they could become in a more spiritual world. I spoke with Mr. Edmonds about five of his photographs from the Company Gallery show for Race/Related. Our interview has been edited for length and clarity. | “I like the way that in all these pictures, there’s a kind of oscillation between the real and the imagined,” Mr. Edmonds, 30, said. The pictures, he added, are about the space between who someone is in the real world and who they could become in a more spiritual world. I spoke with Mr. Edmonds about five of his photographs from the Company Gallery show for Race/Related. Our interview has been edited for length and clarity. |
| In this photograph, “Two Spirits,” there’s an illusion. A figure and a mask become one. Describe what’s going on here. | In this photograph, “Two Spirits,” there’s an illusion. A figure and a mask become one. Describe what’s going on here. |
| “Two Spirits” is a photograph of a person who is gender-fluid, someone who is gender-queer. It is a large photograph of this idealized male. A large photograph of an idealized woman. The Two Spirits is someone representing both of those traits and qualities. That picture for me really calls and echoes the sentiments of Ibeji, which is the two-spirited Orisha from the Yoruba mythology. | “Two Spirits” is a photograph of a person who is gender-fluid, someone who is gender-queer. It is a large photograph of this idealized male. A large photograph of an idealized woman. The Two Spirits is someone representing both of those traits and qualities. That picture for me really calls and echoes the sentiments of Ibeji, which is the two-spirited Orisha from the Yoruba mythology. |
| I like the way in which this photograph in particular echoes these different mythological beings. For me, that picture is so much about compression of space, and trying to create a sense of dimension through the double exposure. | I like the way in which this photograph in particular echoes these different mythological beings. For me, that picture is so much about compression of space, and trying to create a sense of dimension through the double exposure. |
| When I look at “Female Nudes,” it looks unedited, a candid shot, a photo of a photo shoot. No retouching. Is that the case? | When I look at “Female Nudes,” it looks unedited, a candid shot, a photo of a photo shoot. No retouching. Is that the case? |
| There is a photograph of a photo shoot, in a way, but at the same time, they’re all these different poetics that the picture touches on, whether it’s the use of the light in the left-hand side that becomes synonymous with the source of all energy. I’m interested in the way that the figure within the work also becomes a work of art. Not through this process of objectification or thinking about the figure as an object, but thinking about the figure in relationship to objects that have been acquired, that have a history and that have their own spiritual power. | There is a photograph of a photo shoot, in a way, but at the same time, they’re all these different poetics that the picture touches on, whether it’s the use of the light in the left-hand side that becomes synonymous with the source of all energy. I’m interested in the way that the figure within the work also becomes a work of art. Not through this process of objectification or thinking about the figure as an object, but thinking about the figure in relationship to objects that have been acquired, that have a history and that have their own spiritual power. |
| In many ways, this picture for me is really emblematic of becoming a work of art. And this idea that art history and picture making is constructed and framed. That’s what you see happening in that picture; you see art history reframed. | In many ways, this picture for me is really emblematic of becoming a work of art. And this idea that art history and picture making is constructed and framed. That’s what you see happening in that picture; you see art history reframed. |
| “Enduring,” like “Two Spirits,” is very imposing. The use of shadow is arresting. Explain this picture and the cloth he’s holding up. | “Enduring,” like “Two Spirits,” is very imposing. The use of shadow is arresting. Explain this picture and the cloth he’s holding up. |
| That is a Kuba cloth. My whole interest in Kuba cloth is that it’s a fabric, essentially, that could be used in multiple ways. In many of the pictures I often try to employ the objects, meaning using them and having them serve a purpose that perhaps is outside of its ordinary function. | That is a Kuba cloth. My whole interest in Kuba cloth is that it’s a fabric, essentially, that could be used in multiple ways. In many of the pictures I often try to employ the objects, meaning using them and having them serve a purpose that perhaps is outside of its ordinary function. |
| In the pictures at a show I had at Company Gallery, there are several photographs where there are men holding up these Kuba cloths from behind. I made those pictures in this very generative way, in which I’ll use the camera almost as a sketchbook, and making photographs of these men lifting these cloths, almost in a way that they are offering them up to a higher spirit or a higher being. | In the pictures at a show I had at Company Gallery, there are several photographs where there are men holding up these Kuba cloths from behind. I made those pictures in this very generative way, in which I’ll use the camera almost as a sketchbook, and making photographs of these men lifting these cloths, almost in a way that they are offering them up to a higher spirit or a higher being. |
| Exploring gender roles and identity is a major aspect of your work. Discuss this interest and how it’s represented in this photograph. | Exploring gender roles and identity is a major aspect of your work. Discuss this interest and how it’s represented in this photograph. |
| In 2016, Hilton Als curated a show called “James Baldwin/Jim Brown and The Children.” That show had a major influence on me because of Als’s thinking aloud about what it would be like for two black men to have children and what would be the characteristics and the qualities of those people. | In 2016, Hilton Als curated a show called “James Baldwin/Jim Brown and The Children.” That show had a major influence on me because of Als’s thinking aloud about what it would be like for two black men to have children and what would be the characteristics and the qualities of those people. |
| For me, that show had always really stuck with me and made me think about this idea of a pregnant man. In this picture, the figure is wearing a maternity bust from the Makonde. I need to be really particular about my word choice, but I believe it’s for a ritual, and in that ritual, women who in certain villages cannot become pregnant would touch these maternity busts and there would be a ceremony in order for the woman to become pregnant. | For me, that show had always really stuck with me and made me think about this idea of a pregnant man. In this picture, the figure is wearing a maternity bust from the Makonde. I need to be really particular about my word choice, but I believe it’s for a ritual, and in that ritual, women who in certain villages cannot become pregnant would touch these maternity busts and there would be a ceremony in order for the woman to become pregnant. |
| I’m interested in this relationship to gender specifically in this one because, obviously, with this object, it becomes this artifact. I’m interested in how it speaks to the future. Again, this idea of black men giving birth to each other, I think in a way is very true for many of us who find communities outside of where we’re from. | I’m interested in this relationship to gender specifically in this one because, obviously, with this object, it becomes this artifact. I’m interested in how it speaks to the future. Again, this idea of black men giving birth to each other, I think in a way is very true for many of us who find communities outside of where we’re from. |
| This picture reminded me of a trip I took to South Africa. Walking through craft markets seeing all these beautiful statues and pieces. I’m interested in the moment you saw these objects and decided to photograph them. | This picture reminded me of a trip I took to South Africa. Walking through craft markets seeing all these beautiful statues and pieces. I’m interested in the moment you saw these objects and decided to photograph them. |
| I was interested in objects like these two that are made specifically for the market to be collected; they were made to be acquired. And I was interested in acquiring these objects in photographs and in repurposing them through the act of photography, because for me, as a collector, I’m so interested in the way that a collection can be in so many ways a portrait of the person that is acquiring and collecting these things. | I was interested in objects like these two that are made specifically for the market to be collected; they were made to be acquired. And I was interested in acquiring these objects in photographs and in repurposing them through the act of photography, because for me, as a collector, I’m so interested in the way that a collection can be in so many ways a portrait of the person that is acquiring and collecting these things. |
| What I’m really drawn to is this idea of value, whether it’s monetary, cultural significance or importance, and how that line is blurred and everything has an equal sense of value. A lot of the pictures are really about me trying to disentangle my relationship to the objects, more than trying to create this kind of monolithic understanding of blackness or black art. I’m not interested in that, because there’s just so many different stories and narratives and ways that I got here. | What I’m really drawn to is this idea of value, whether it’s monetary, cultural significance or importance, and how that line is blurred and everything has an equal sense of value. A lot of the pictures are really about me trying to disentangle my relationship to the objects, more than trying to create this kind of monolithic understanding of blackness or black art. I’m not interested in that, because there’s just so many different stories and narratives and ways that I got here. |