PhD alumna Ann Millett-Gallant is also an artist, and several of her works have been chosen for an exhibition at the National Humanities Center, “Esse Quam Videri.”

August 31–December 15, 2018

Exhibition Reception and Curator Talk: Thursday, September 20, 6:00 pm–8:00 pm

Esse Quam Videri [“To be, rather than to seem”] is an exhibition exploring North Carolina, its history, culture, and landscape, through the lens of disability. There are many experiences which we all share: romantic and familial love, employment, citizenship, education, and caregiving, to name a few. People with disabilities have typically been erased or considered disqualified from these experiences, yet they too participate in them. Following the curatorial theme of the overarching EVERYDAY project, this exhibition will showcase works that tell stories unique to North Carolina, using universal experiences or ideas, but presented in audacious ways—particularly based in the knowledge and creativity that disability brings to them. “To be, rather than to seem”: how can we explore through disability representation and disability aesthetics what disability history, knowledge, and culture is relative to North Carolina?

Works in this exhibit have been selected by jurors Ann M. Fox and Linda Dougherty. Fox and Dougherty will give a talk about the exhibit as part of the exhibition reception on September 20th.

https://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/esse-quam-videri/

PDN Magazine’s August issue has a feature on Joy and Ben’s collaborative photographic project Compound Fractures (which they are turning into a book): https://www.pdnonline.com/features/photographer-interviews/joy-drury-cox-and-ben-alper-explore-the-odd-world-of-cave-tourism/

So much exciting news that only some of it will fit in this update. Here are the happenings from last winter to now, from India, to Switzerland, to Vietnam and back again. The biggest and most current news is that Thursday I will travel to Vietnam for an exhibition of new “Removed” photographs that were supported by The World Economic Forum. More information on that and much much more below! As always thank you so much for your support. Huge things are happening and I am trying to be better at keeping you up to date with all of it.

Collect 

I am incredibly fortunate to be working with Rick Wester Fine Art who has now made my work available online via ARTSY. Please support my practice and my family by collecting my prints.

Exhibitions – Current and Past

Here I Live / Media Congress

Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, Russia

NoShow – Merignac Photographic Festival

Merignac, France

I have been waiting for, and working on this exhibition all year! I met the prolific curator Francois Cheval while in Lianzhou, China last fall. When I told him about NoShow he was immediately enthusiastic about bringing the project to France. This will be my first major solo exhibition in Europe and will include photographs, video, audio, and sculpture. The exhibition ran from early October to mid December 2017.

Hello, Robot. Design Between Human and Machine

Design Museum Gent

Three pieces from Removed are still on their journey around the world as part of the exhibition, Hello, Robot. Design Between Man and Machine. The five year tour began at the Vitra Design Museum in Germany, it was later installed at Design Museum Gent in Belgium and is currently on display at the Switzerland based museum Gewerbemuseum Winterthur.

INTERFACE

neo:gallery / Bolton, Greater Manchester, UK

Zenith Nadir

Charlotte, NC

Eyes on Main Street

Wilson, NC

Last year I helped with the student gallery and workshops for the kids of Wilson to create an exhibition of their work. This year I was asked to be one of the 100 participating artists in the Eyes on Main Street Wilson Outdoor Photo Festival. My photograph “Jamie, Jody, and Aiden, 2014” was selected this year and was on exhibit in downtown Wilson, NC from April until August. I will have work from my NoShow series in next years festival.

I to Eye

Israel Museum, Jerusalem

“Every day we encounter family members, friends, visitors, and strangers; over the course of our lives, our social circle continues to expand. Modern technology makes us feel more connected than ever, allowing us to “meet” endless friends at any time through our screens and to feel like we are never alone. Is this true? This exhibition uses artworks to examine the changing social landscape of the virtual age, illuminating the importance of real relationships in our lives. Visitors are invited to witness encounters – from their first moments to their eventual conclusion – and rediscover the value of face-to-face encounters. Such meetings present invaluable opportunities to deepen our knowledge and understanding of the other, and therefore of ourselves.”
Curator: Shir Meller-Yamaguchi

DIAPOSITIVE

CASSILHAUS, Chapel Hill, NC

Several pieces from my Holder Series are currently on display at Cassilhaus as part of the group exhibition Diapositive. The exhibition will be up during the Click! Photography Festival and I will give a shared artist talk with the incredibly hardworking and prolific artist and friend of mine, Amy Herman on October 17th, 2018.

Upcoming Exhibitions

Removed
The World Economic Forum on ASEAN Summit / Hanoi, Vietnam

The World Economic Forum recently reached out to me with the idea of creating new Removed photographs that would represent a glimpse into digital culture across Southeast Asia. In June I spent several weeks photographing across Vietnam, Myanmar, Singapore, and Indonesia. On September 11th, 2018 a selection of the photographs will be revealed at The World Economic Forum on ASEAN 2018 Summit in Hanoi, Vietnam where I will engage with economic leaders on the topics surrounding my work. I’m very excited about the new photographs and can’t wait to see where they end up after the summit.

Select Press

NoShow feature in print / Fisheye Magazine, France
Times of India
VASA Project
Sunday Guardian India
National Post
The Hundu
Semana Magazine
Beteve, Barcelona
Casa Vogue
San Antonio Express-News

Collaborations

tlkn™

Last November I travelled all across India with the film maker Jessica Sadana and her amazing crew creating Removed photographs and interviewing dozens of people. Our journey was recorded and is now being finalized as a short documentary film which will be released in the next few months. Please keep an eye out for that. I think it will be a film as moving as the photographs I made.
Workshops

The amazing photo consultant and my lovely agent, Julie Grahame and I will be heading down to Georgia for a workshop on our professional best practices and I’m sure some insight to the horror stories as well. It should be a really fun time together. Sign up if you are in the area!

For editorial and media requests contact Julie Grahame
For print / exhibition inquiries contact Rick Wester Fine Art

I am currently available for editorial assignment and speaking engagements, please contact for booking information.

All content © 2018, Eric Pickersgill, All rights reserved.

My mailing address is:
info@ericpickersgill.com

Calling her a Rising Star, Ozy’s most recent Daily Dose features the innovative animation style of recent alumna Emily Yue: https://www.ozy.com/rising-stars/the-animator-who-dreams-in-split-screen/88352

Now an assistant curator of American Art at the Worcester Art Museum, Art History alumna Erin Corrales-Diaz is part of an initiative there to add wall text to portraits that reveal the sitter’s ties to slavery. You can find her comments on the initiative in a recent article from Artnet: https://news.artnet.com/exhibitions/worcester-art-museum-slavery-wall-text-1305407

The Open Orchard

I wanted to let you know about my new exhibition, The Open Orchard, at the McColl Center in Charlotte that runs from June 7th-August 25th.

Over the past four years I have been researching and studying the varieties that have been preserved through the Tree of 40 Fruit Project and have built an exhibition around this work, which includes Botanical Drawings, Herbarium Specimens, etc.

While in residence here, I will be making a series of hand-colored etchings based on the Botanical Drawings that will be available as a subscription that can be purchased to support preserving these varieties.

If you are in the Charlotte area on Thursday, it would be great to see you at the opening.

Sam
samvanaken.com

The Carrack, a Durham-based art and community space, is pleased to announce artist Saba Taj as its new Gallery Director. Taj assumes directorship as of
June 16.

Taj is a Durham-based artist, educator, and advocate who has been an active member of the local arts community since 2009. As a founding member of Durham Artists Movement and an arts educator, she has sought to help individuals from marginalized communities be empowered to create and share their own art. She has studied at North Carolina Central University (BA, 2011) and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (MFA in Studio Art, 2016).

“I believe in increasing representation in the arts,” Taj says. “The issue of representation is not only relevant to works of art, but also within the landscape of galleries and art institutions. The Carrack has a legacy of centering artists and fostering an artists’ community that is collaborative and self-determining. I see this work as parallel to my own art practice, with values that deeply align with my own.”

In her art practice, Taj challenges racism and xenophobia through empowered representations of people of color. Taj has been a 2017 Southern Constellations Fellow and a TedxDuke 2017 speaker, and has been featured in The Guardian, Huffington Post, and Durham magazine.

Taj has been an active part of The Carrack’s community since 2012. She has had two solo exhibitions and curated numerous group exhibitions at The Carrack, served on its Advisory Board in 2016, and has participated through the years as a volunteer and collaborator.

“I am excited to be building relationships with artists and patrons,” Taj says. “I look forward to the challenge of fostering community and a sustainable, accountable space for artists and for Durham, and brainstorming new projects and initiatives that can expand our reach and our ties to the broader Durham community. And I’m just such a nerd about the arts so I’m pretty thrilled to be around it all the time.”

With outgoing director and founder Laura Ritchie, The Carrack’s Advisory Board conducted a rigorous review process of applicants and are pleased to announce Taj’s appointment.

“I have complete confidence in Saba,” Ritchie says. “She already feels like an extension of The Carrack’s family and we’re thrilled to now welcome her as Gallery Director.”

“For as long as I have known her, Saba has demonstrated an exceptional commitment to the arts in Durham through her own art practice and as an advocate for other artists. It’s been an honor to grow with and learn from her as a peer in this community and I cannot wait to see where she leads this project.”

Ritchie expresses gratitude to The Carrack’s Advisory Board for their thoughtfulness through the process of considering applicants, and to her colleague Kerry Crocker, Operations Director at The Carrack, for her steadfast guidance and support in this transitional period for the organization. Ritchie also conveys a deep appreciation to The Carrack’s volunteers and donors for forming a strong foundation for The Carrack that will allow the organization to thrive in times of change.

The Carrack has recently launched a fundraising effort on the Patreon membership platform. With an imminent change into a nonprofit organization, The Carrack will soon phase out its fiscal sponsorship through Fractured Atlas. The Carrack’s annual fall fundraising event, The Muse Masquerade, will soon be announced.

About The Carrack
The Carrack is an artist-centered, volunteer-run, zero-commission art space in Durham, North Carolina that hosts short, rapidly rotating exhibitions, performances, workshops, and community gatherings. The Carrack proudly supports the work of creators who are underrepresented in the art world at large, including artists of color; queer and trans artists; and artists who are emerging, experimenting, or producing temporal and/or site-specific work. All artists and organizers use The Carrack for free, have complete creative control over the presentation of their work, and keep 100% of what they make from sales if they choose to sell. The Carrack is entirely funded by grassroots donations and sustained by a team of volunteers. Since opening in Durham, NC in 2011, The Carrack has exhibited work by over 1,000 artists and hosted over 160 exhibitions and numerous performing arts events.

Hannah Clager is one of two UNC alumni selected as 2018 Thomas R. Pickering Graduate Foreign Affairs Fellows. Recipients of the Pickering Fellowship receive two years of financial support and professional development to prepare them for a career in the U.S. Foreign Service. Fellows also complete a domestic internship at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., and an overseas internship at a U.S. embassy.

Managed and funded by the U.S. Department of State, consideration is given to qualified applicants who have displayed outstanding leadership skills and academic achievement. The fellowship aims to support those historically underrepresented in the U.S. Foreign Service, including women, minority groups and students with financial need.

Hannah Clager, from Lake Worth, Florida, will attend Harvard University this fall to pursue her master’s degree in Middle Eastern Studies. Her studies will focus on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East and North Africa; human rights and refugee affairs; and cultural diplomacy in the region. Clager earned her bachelor’s degree in 2013 with a major in art history and a minor in African studies. At UNC-Chapel Hill, she completed her art history honors thesis on the 2012 Dakar Biennale after seven months of fieldwork in Dakar, Senegal. She worked as a full-time paralegal for close to three years and then spent 14 months in Morocco as a Fulbright Student Researcher beginning in 2016, where she studied Arabic and completed a case study of the new Mohammed VI Modern and Contemporary Art Museum in Rabat.