Crystal Z. Campbell in ‘A Field of Meaning’ at Callicoon Fine Arts

By revisiting historical events through one individual’s point of view, Crystal Z. Campbell reconsiders the 1921 race massacre that devastated Tulsa, Oklahoma’s burgeoning African American Greenwood District.  The artist personalizes this archival photo of a Tulsa woman, adding color and patterning and thereby making it impossible to overlook this peaceful scenario as ordinary or every day.  (On view in ‘A Field of Meaning’ at Callicoon Fine Arts on the Lower East Side).

Crystal Z. Campbell, Notes from Black Wall Street: Receptive, Soft and Absolute, mixed media on birch wood panel, 24 x 30 inches, 2019.

Sarah Blesener at Anastasia Photo

After a stint photographing patriotic camps and schools in Russia, US photojournalist Sarah Blesener turned her focus to schools like the Utah Patriot Camp, a short summer camp in Utah that aims to help kids memorize the articles of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and more.  Blesener’s goal – to invite conversation about nationalism vs patriotism – makes for a timely and provocative body of work.  (On view at Anastasia Photo on the Lower East Side through April 1st). 

Sarah Blesener, photo taken at Utah Patriot Camp, Herriman, Utah, 2017-18.

Paul Bulteel at Anastasia Photo

Belgian photographer Paul Bulteel spent a career focusing on energy and sustainable practice; lately, he’s expanded on his professional experience with ‘Waste Not,’ a photo series shot at European waste recycling facilities. Bulteel’s eye for color and composition make materials intriguingly strange (this pile of mixed metals suggests hair) while demonstrating what efforts go on to recycle and reuse. (At Anastasia Photo on the Lower East Side through Nov 22nd).

Paul Bulteel, “Tinned copper wire, typically used in electrical motors. The different metals (copper, nickel, lead, and tin) are separated in a pyro-metallurgical process. Lead and tin are further separated using vacuum technology.”

Martin Roemers at Anastasia Photo

How do people manage to live in the world’s biggest cities? Dutch photojournalist Martin Roemers set out to answer this question in ‘Metropolis,’ a series that took him around the world to cities with populations of ten million or more. Roemer discovered that to survive is to focus on the details of everyday life, as he does in this colorful market in Lagos. (On view at Anastasia Photo on the Lower East Side through April 26th).

Martin Roemers, Oshodi Road, Oshodi, Lagos, Nigeria, archival pigment print on Ilford Galerie Smooth Pearl paper, 22 x 28 inches, 2015.

Lorna Simpson at Salon94 Bowery

Lorna Simpson’s understated, monochrome images employ collaged fragments from magazines like Ebony and Jet in a powerful, poetic mediation on race in America. (At Salon94 Bowery on the Lower East Side through Oct 22nd).

Lorna Simpson, Hands, India ink and screenprint on Clayboard, 48 x 36 inches, 2016.
Lorna Simpson, Hands, India ink and screenprint on Clayboard, 48 x 36 inches, 2016.