Photo Exhibit Addresses Diverse Political Landscape of U.S.
October 13, 2016
"Precinct 52510, Moreno Valley, CA" is one of the photographs featured in "Affairs of the State." The photography exhibition was scheduled to coincide with the 2016 presidential election.
Scheduled to coincide with the 2016 presidential election, Old Dominion University's Baron and Ellin Gordon Art Galleries will present "Affairs of the State: Photography by Tim Davis and Michael Mergen" Oct. 22 through Nov. 27.
This two-person exhibition by nationally known photographers Tim Davis and Michael Mergen addresses the diverse political and civic landscape of the United States and its citizens.
A joint reception, also showcasing the opening of "Landscapes of the Collector: The Best of the Baron and Ellin Gordon Collection of Self-Taught Art," will be held Oct. 21, from 7 to 9 p.m. Baron and Ellin Gordon Art Galleries on Monarch Way.
Also, join the artists for a panel discussion on Oct. 26 at 6:30 p.m. in the Goode Theatre lobby. This event also includes associate professor of political science Jesse Richman and will be moderated by David Earnest, professor of political science and associate dean of the College of Arts and Letters. Both events are free and open to the public.
"The breadth of the political spectrum and what can be called the American experience is indeed large enough to contain many opposites and polarities. The photographs of Tim Davis and Michael Mergen survey the pluralism of a nation that often seems more divided than united. Such divisions have been especially acute during this election year," Peter Eudenbach, associate professor and chair of the University's art department, said of the exhibit.
Tim Davis is a photographer, writer and musician who lives in Tivoli, New York, and teaches photography at Bard College. Much of Davis' work marries the ridiculous and the sublime, allowing humor to pirouette around the political. Davis was born in Blantyre, Malawi in 1969.
His photographs and videos have been exhibited in public institutions including the Whitney Museum, Tate Modern in London, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Knoxville Museum.
Michael Mergen is an artist based in Farmville, Virginia. Born in 1978, Mergen earned a BFA in photography from the Rochester Institute of Technology in 2000 and an MFA in photography at the Rhode Island School of Design in 2011.
His work considers the political and civic nature of the United States and its citizens through the medium of photography. His work has been featured in The New York Times Magazine, Harper's, Mother Jones, and Once magazines, and featured on Time magazine's LightBox and Slate.
For more information, call 757-683-6271 or visit the Baron and Ellin Gordon Art Galleries website.