Gordon Parks: Higher Ground

Opening February 4, 5:30 - 7:30; Exhibition February 5 - April 2, 10am - 6pm.

Higher Ground, an exhibition of over 60 photographs by the most important black photojournalist commemorating his Life magazine photo essays on the Civil Rights Movement.

As the first black photojournalist to work at Life magazine, from 1948 to 1972, Parks documented the stories of those he photographed, personalizing his assignments to tell the broader story of the African American experience. By gaining their trust unlike any other photojournalist, Parks' empathy & charisma enabled him to gain access into his subject's world. The show will include works from the essays for Life magazine, Invisible Man, 1952; Segregation Story, 1956; Duke Ellington, 1960 The March on Washington, 1963; The Nation of Islam, 1963; Muhammad Ali, 1970; & The Black Panthers, 1970.

In 2013, the gallery presented Gordon Parks: Centennial, an exhibition of works spanning six decades. Higher Ground presents lifetime silver gelatin prints & color pigment prints that cover a period of strife and turmoil in American History. This show coincides with the anniversaries of many historic events, including: 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War; the 60th anniversary of Rosa Parks refusing to give her bus seat to a white passenger; & the 50th anniversaries of the assassination of Malcolm X & the founding of the Black Panthers. The exhibition also documents milestones including Ralph Ellison's groundbreaking 1952 National Book Award novel Invisible Man, the 1963 March on Washington, the 1964 Civil Rights Act, & the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

Gordon Parks documented a time in American history that brought about the attention of the nation & acted as a catalyst for the Civil Rights Movement. He exposed wrongs & highlighted the humanity in people, not with broad strokes but with the telling detail of intimate moments. Gordon Parks, an iconic photographer, writer, composer, & filmmaker, truly a Renaissance man, inspired storytellers & image-makers.

Free