The Chrysler Museum of Art is hosting an exhibition of photographs and prints by rural town photographer Mike Disfarmer. The show will open on December 16, 2022, and will be the first exhibition of Chelsea Pierce, Ph.D., the newly appointed McKinnon Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art.
This exhibition features six Disfarmer prints newly acquired by the Chrysler Museum and invites close scrutiny of the personal dynamics within this genre of photography. Disfarmer’s work provides a starting point for us to ponder, “What makes a portrait?” Unlike documentary photography, which captures fleeting moments, people and places, portraiture records a deliberate meeting between a photographer and their subject. The individual’s choice of demeanor, dress and facial expression reveals much about the sitter and the person behind the camera.
“With our smartphone cameras today, it is a common occurrence to photograph ourselves, our friends and families with the ease of instantaneous technology. Facing Ourselves takes a longer view of photography as a medium with seven decades of portraits that show this great influence on American society,” said Chelsea Pierce, McKinnon Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Chrysler Museum of Art. “My hope with this exhibition is to de-accelerate our relationship to pictures, spend a longer time looking, and to appreciate the photographic process.”
Pierce, who started working at the Museum in July 2022, set out to explore how contemporary art relates to different genres across time and place. Her debut exhibition, Disfarmer’s portraits, features artworks from the 1930s to the early 1960s, capturing individuals who were commemorating important life events, such as birthdays and anniversaries. Despite the happy occasions depicted in these paintings, the expressions on the subjects’ faces are often solemn or stoic, resulting in portraits that are much more intimate and soul-capturing.
Disfarmer operated a portrait studio in downtown Heber Springs, Arkansas, during the 1930s and 1940s. His subjects included some of the best-known names in American photography, such as Diane Arbus, Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, and James Van Der Zee. Facing Ourselves features these artists in dialogue with Disfarmer, discussing their work and their lives. Whether the faces are well-known or unfamiliar, we can see ourselves in them and, perhaps, they can tell us something about themselves.
The Chrysler Museum of Art is proud to present Chelsea Pierce’s debut exhibition, Facing Ourselves. Chelsea’s thoughtful approach to modern and contemporary art and emphasis on diversity are evident throughout the exhibit. We are excited for our guests to experience this exhibition, and Chelsea’s strong point of view.
The exhibition Facing Ourselves: Mike Disfarmer and the American Portrait will be on view at the Chrysler Museum of Art from December 16, 2022, until May 14, 2023. The exhibition is organized by the museum and features the work of Mike Disfarmer, a contemporary painter whose paintings explore the human condition through a variety of themes, including self-reflection, identity, and relationships.