Claire Beckett: Converts

Transcription

1 Claire Beckett: Converts April 20 May 28, 2016 Carroll and Sons is pleased to announce the opening of Claire Beckett: Converts. The seventeen photographs in the exhibition, a combination of portraits, still lives and interiors, offer insight into the lives of Americans who have converted to Islam. Since 9/11 the words American and Muslim are all to often construed as opposites, one can be one or the other but not both. Although founded on principles of religious freedom and the separation of church and state, the U.S. has a complicated history with religion that at times surfaces in intolerance and xenophobia. These times are ripe for introspection and research, to gain insight and understanding and Beckett uses her camera to that effect. The subjects of her photographs are Americans who were not born into the religion but have found Islam as adults. Shot with a large format camera and printed close to life size, the viewer confronts the images one to one. The expressions of the subjects radiate dignity, resolution and a hard fought inner peace set within Beckett s muted, painterly palette. The photographs focus on perception and identity, exploring not only the subjects physical image as converts but also the viewer s understanding of religious culture in the U.S. This project would not have been possible without the generous assistance of many people including the participants and their families; members of the Muslim community including the Muslim America Society of Boston; the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center; the Islamic Society of Boston; Masjid Al- Qur aan, Dorchester, MA; Yusuf Mosque, Brighton, MA; Osmanli Naksibendi Hakkani Dergahi, Sidney Center, NY; Islamic Society of Central New York, Syracuse, NY; and the Imam Buhari Mosque, Springfield, MA.

2 This is Beckett s second project with Carroll and Sons and her fourth with Joseph Carroll. Her most recent body of work, Simulating Iraq, was exhibited at Carroll and Sons in 2011 and later that year at the Wadsworth Athenaeum, Hartford, CT, in the prestigious MATRIX program. Her portrait of April and Her Daughter Sarah is presently on view at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC. Work has also been exhibited at the decordova Sculpture Park and Museum, Lincoln, MA; Mass MoCA, North Adams, MA; the Nelson Atkins Museum, Kansas City, MO; the Haggerty Museum, Milwaukee, MN; and the Gund Gallery, Kenyon College, Gambier, OH. Her work is in the collection of the Wadsworth Athenaeum, the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Claire Beckett was born in Chicago into a nonreligious household of catholic heritage. She studied photography at Kenyon College in Gambier, OH, where she received a BA in Anthropology and minored in Sociology. Beckett was a Peace Corps volunteer in Benin, West Africa before attending the Massachusetts College of Art and Design where she received an MFA in photography in Claire Beckett: Converts is on view at Carroll and Sons through May 28, For further information please contact Joseph Carroll at or Joseph@carrollandsons.net.

3 Installation View 1 Claire Beckett: Converts

4 Installation View 2 Claire Beckett: Converts

5 Installation View 3 Claire Beckett: Converts

6 Installation View 4 Claire Beckett: Converts

7 Installation View 5 Claire Beckett: Converts

8 April and her daughter Sarah, x 32, Edition of 10

9 A Brief Introduction to Islam, x 40, Edition of 10

10 Jafar and Yanira, x 32, Edition of 10

11 The Ninety-Nine Names of God, x 40, Edition of 10

12 Prayer beads collection, x 40, Edition of 10

13 Robby, x 32, Edition of 10

14 Lisa, x 32, Edition of 10

15 Saleh, x 32, Edition of 10

16 Anne, x 32, Edition of 10

17 Imam Taalib Mahdee, x 32, Edition of 10

18 Theron, x 32, Edition of 10

19 Anabel s visit to her husband s homeland, x 40, Edition of 10

20 Imam Suhaib Webb, x 40, Edition of 10

21 Juan, x 32, Edition of 10

22 Mary, x 32, Edition of 10

23 Women s section of the prayer hall, Naksibendi Hakkani Dergahi, x 40, Edition of 10

24 Hans with his teacher Lokman Efendi, x 40, Edition of 10