La Toya Ruby Frazier is one of the selected artists for the Busan Biennial – ‘Inhabiting the World’ – in South-Korea.
From September 20 until November 22, 2014.
Aperture just published a book on her work.
About her book:
The Notion of Family
Photographs by LaToya Ruby Frazier.
Interview by Dawoud Bey.
Essays by Laura Wexler and Dennis C. Dickerson.
In this, her first book, LaToya Ruby Frazier offers an incisive exploration of the legacy of racism and economic decline in America’s small towns, as embodied by her hometown of Braddock, Pennsylvania. The work also considers the impact of that decline on the community and on her family, creating a statement both personal and truly political—an intervention in the histories and narratives of the region. Frazier has compellingly set her story of three generations—her Grandma Ruby, her mother, and herself—against larger questions of civic belonging and responsibility. The work documents her own struggles and interactions with family and the expectations of community, and includes the documentation of the demise of Braddock’s only hospital, reinforcing the idea that the history of a place is frequently written on the body as well as the landscape.
See more on Aperture.org
Statement about her work:
The collaboration between my family and myself blurs the line between self-portraiture and social documentary. I use photography and video to employ themes regarding, the body and landscape, familial and communal history, private and public space and social activism.
My work has a deep concern for the mother/ daughter relationship. Relentlessly documenting encounters with Grandma Ruby (b.1925-2009), Mom (b.1959) and myself (b.1982) enables me to break unspoken intergenerational cycles. We are wrestling with internalized life experiences, perceptions of our-selves and familial personas developed by sociopolitical baggage.
Edgar Thomson Plant. from the series Born by a River, 2013.
All of my photographs are created in Braddock, Pennsylvania, a historical steel mill town from America’s Industrial period. It is home of Andrew Carnegie’s first Steel Mill, The Edgar Thomson Works, (which still functions today). Grandma Ruby, Mom and myself grew up in significantly different social and economic climates in Braddock. Grandma Ruby witnessed Braddock’s prosperous days of Department stores, theaters and restaurants. Mom witnessed the steel mills close and white flight to suburban developments. I witnessed the War on Drugs decimate my family and community. Between our three generations we not only witnessed, we experienced and internalized the end of industrialization and rise of deindustrialization.
Lately I have created photographs and videos that address class inequity, access to health care, and environmental racism. Grandma Ruby died from pancreatic cancer and diabetes, Mom currently suffers from an unknown neurological disorder and cancer and I was diagnosed with lupus twelve years ago.
Grambs on his bed, 2003.
The underpinning element in my photographs is the collaborative process between my mother and myself. Mom is co-author, artist and subject. She turns the camera on me to document us. I am also the subject and content of the work. This work is not solely social documentary. These are psychological portraits of the identity of the body and how surrounding outside space shapes and forms it physically. I view Grandma Ruby, Mom and myself as one entity. There is an intergenerational transference of our identities existing in the history of Braddock Pennsylvania.
Mom making an image of me, 2008.
About the Busan Biennial:
Olivier Kaeppelin (director of Fondation Maeght in France) leads the main exhibition that presents a new vision on functions and roles of art in a today’s precarious world. Moreover, two different special exhibitions will show potential of Korean contemporary art to the visitors. Biennale Archive exhibition will display a history of Korean contemporary arts’ expansion abroad and its meaning. The other Asian curatorial exhibition, curated by young Asian curators from the cities with similar environments to Busan such as Yokohama, Shanghai, and Singapore and so on, will offer an opportunity to meet creative enterprises.
Me and Mr. Art, 2005.
Along with the exhibitions above, various programs are prepared for this biennale. Academic events such as forums and panel discussions etc., international interchange programs such as conference of Asian biennials’ representatives and the Asian editors meeting etc. and citizen participation programs will also take place in the frame of Busan Biennale 2014.
Participating artists:
Main exhibition:
Adrian Paci / Adrien Missika / Alain Fleischer / Ange Leccia / Angelika Markul / Anish Kapoor / Art Orienté Objet / Assan Smati / Bernard Moninot / Chan Kai-Yuen / Chien Chi Chang / Chiharu Shiota / Christian Bonnefoi / Claire-Jeanne Jezequel / Damien Cabanes / Damien Deroubaix / Darren Almond / David Claerbout / Denis Castellas / Djamel Tatah / Elias Crespin / Fabrice Hybert / Farsen-Schöllhammer / Gerard Garouste / Gilles Barbier / Gloria Friedmann / Ha, Suk Won / Han Kyungwoo / Han Soonja / Hannes Van Severen / Henk Visch / Huang Yong Ping / Humberto Duque / Jaume Plensa / Jean-Luc Moulene / Jitish Kallat / Jonathan Lasker / Julien Berthier / Kim Meongbeom / Kim Sooja / Ksenija Turčić / Kwon Hayoun / La Toya Ruby Frazier / Lawrence Carroll / Le Fresnoy / Lee Bae / Lee Changwon / Lucy & Jorge Orta / Maike Freess / Mariana Vassileva / Masayuki Koorida / Meschac Gaba / Myriam Mihindou / Nathalie Elemento / Not Vital / Oleg Kulik / Pascal Convert / Pascal Pinaud / Peter Soriano / Philippe Cognée / Pierre Laniau / Pilar Albarracín / Recycle Group / Richard Deacon / Ronald Ophuis / Stefan Rohrer / Sui JianGuo / Su-Mei Tse / Trine Lise Nedreaas / Vik Muniz / Vincent Corpet / Wang Luyan / Wolfgang Gafgen / Yazid Oulab / Yee Sookyung / Yoon young hwa / Yoseph Dadoune
Venues: Busan Museum of Art, Busan Cultural Center, Kiswire Suyoung Factory
Host: Busan Biennale Organizing Committee, Busan Metropolitan City
Support: Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism
http://www.busanbiennale.org/english/main/index.php
