Philadelphia Museum of Art Presents 'Unsettled: Photography and Politics in Contemporary Art'

The Philadelphia Museum of Art will feature the exhibition Unsettled: Photography and Politics in Contemporary Art, showcasing the works of nine photographers whose work is based in political and social issues including feminism, racism, LGBT activism from the 1970’s to the 1990’s and the AIDS crisis from April 9 – 21, according to a press release.

The artwork consists of a collection of photographs by renowned–often button-pushing-- artists Peter Hujar, Robert Mapplethorpe, Andres Serrano, Lorna Simpson, and Carrie Mae Weems, Hujar, Nan Goldin, Zoe Leonard, Barbra Kruger and David Wojnarowicz. The exhibition will be held Ruth and Raymond G. Perelman Building of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.  

Museum officials had the following to say about the artists' work:

“Peter Hujar, Robert Mapplethorpe, Andres Serrano, Lorna Simpson, and Carrie Mae Weems, Hujar based their work on, and often subverted the tradition of studio portraiture. Hujar, Nan Goldin, and Zoe Leonard shot seemingly candid pictures, often of subjects found on the street. Barbra Kruger and DavidWojnarowicz created montages with appropriated imagery lifted from advertising and other pop-culture sources. Kruger, Simpson, and Weems put words in their pictures, deploying language to give political meaning to otherwise neutral images. Wojnarowicz used text in yet another way in his Sex Series, mixing images with news stories, government reports, and diary entries about homosexuality and AIDS”

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