Whitney Biennial 2017
Mar 17–June 11, 2017
Deana Lawson
28
Floor 6
Born 1979 in Rochester, NY
Lives in Brooklyn, NY
Deana Lawson’s carefully staged photographs capture scenes of self-love, friendship, romance, familial connection, and desire. Her subjects often gaze directly at the viewer, boldly commanding the experience of being viewed. In doing so, Lawson’s images subvert the ways in which portrayals of Black bodies are often subject to biased perceptions of Black personhood in American culture. While her images are inspired by traditional family photo albums, Lawson’s works feature strangers, individuals she casts from the street for compositions of her own design. Her portraits, full of memory and possibility, invite the viewer to reckon with how people imagine and invent stories about themselves and others in the world.
Ring Bearer, 2016
Deana Lawson (b. 1979), Ring Bearer, 2016. Inkjet print, 43 x 54 in. (109.2 x 137.2 cm). Collection of the artist; courtesy Rhona Hoffman Gallery, Chicago, and Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York