Deana Lawson takes photographs of strangers. She wants to highlight the aesthetics of Black identity and culture. It’s a “mythological extended family,” she explains. Many of her subjects remind Lawson of someone she’s met or known in the past. She selects them at random, perhaps on a street or in a café, and shoots the large-scale pictures in a choreographed setting, dictating lighting, decor, and pose. A textured carpet, patterned pillows, or an unconventional outfit creates scenes reminiscent of historical portraiture. “I describe it as time-stopping,” Lawson says. Some of the final products are embedded with holograms, which imbues them with hidden energy. This exhibition is the first museum survey dedicated to Lawson’s work. —E.C.

Deana Lawson
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Institute of Contemporary Art / Boston / Art
Institute of Contemporary Art / Boston / Art
Deana Lawson, “Roxie and Raquel,” 2010 © Deana Lawson. Courtesy the artist, Sikkema Jenkins & Co., New York, and Rhona Hoffman Gallery, Chicago.
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