Claire Beckett: Converts

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.

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 2006. Claire Beckett: Converts is on view at Carroll and Sons through May 28, 2016. For further information please contact Joseph Carroll at 617-482-2477 or Joseph@carrollandsons.net.

Installation View 1 Claire Beckett: Converts

April and her daughter Sarah, 2013 40 x 32, Edition of 10

A Brief Introduction to Islam, 2013 32 x 40, Edition of 10

Jafar and Yanira, 2015 40 x 32, Edition of 10

The Ninety-Nine Names of God, 2012 32 x 40, Edition of 10

Prayer beads collection, 2013 32 x 40, Edition of 10

Robby, 2013 40 x 32, Edition of 10

Lisa, 2012 40 x 32, Edition of 10

Saleh, 2013 40 x 32, Edition of 10

Anne, 2014 40 x 32, Edition of 10

Imam Taalib Mahdee, 2013 40 x 32, Edition of 10

Theron, 2012 40 x 32, Edition of 10

Anabel s visit to her husband s homeland, 2011 32 x 40, Edition of 10

Imam Suhaib Webb, 2012 32 x 40, Edition of 10

Juan, 2015 40 x 32, Edition of 10

Mary, 2012 40 x 32, Edition of 10

Women s section of the prayer hall, Naksibendi Hakkani Dergahi, 2013 32 x 40, Edition of 10

Hans with his teacher Lokman Efendi, 2013 32 x 40, Edition of 10