Deborah Willis (artist)

Deborah Willis (born February 5, 1948) is a contemporary African-American artist, photographer, curator of photography, photographic historian, author, and educator.[1] Among other awards and honors she has received, she was a 2000 MacArthur Fellow.[2] She is currently Professor and Chair of the Department of Photography and Imaging at Tisch School of the Arts of New York University.[3]

Biography

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Willis is the mother of Hank Willis Thomas.[1][4] She is also known as "Deb Willis."[5] She survived a diagnosis of breast cancer in 2001.[6]

Her degrees include a B.F.A. in photography from Philadelphia College of Art in 1975; an M.F.A. in photography from Pratt Institute in 1979; an M.A. in art history from City College of New York in 1986;[7] and a Ph.D. from the Cultural Studies Program of George Mason University in 2001.[8] She was the curator of photographs and the prints/exhibition coordinator at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture at the New York Public Library between 1980 and 1992, after which she became exhibitions curator at the Center for African American History and Culture]] of the Smithsonian Institution for eight years.[1][8] Between 2000 and 2001 she was Lehman Brady Visiting Joint Chair Professor in Documentary Studies and American Studies at Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.[9] She then joined the faculty of New York University.[1]

She co-produced the 2014 documentary film Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People, which is based on her book, Reflections in Black: A History of Black Photographers 1840 to the Present.[10]

Awards and honors

Willis has received numerous awards and honors, including:

Artistic and photographic works

As an artist and photographer, Willis is represented by Bernice Steinbaum Gallery in Miami[14] and Charles Guice Contemporary in Berkeley, California.[15] Her exhibitions have included:

Willis is also a quilter, also incorporating photographic images into her pieces. Her quilts have been included in the following exhibits and catalogs:

Curated exhibitions

Exhibitions that Willis has curated include:

Books

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 3 4 The HistoryMakers. Deborah Willis biography. June 27, 2007. Accessed August 1, 2009.
  2. 1 2 John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. MacArthur Fellows. July 2000. Accessed August 1, 2009.
  3. New York University. Maurice Kanbar Institute. Photography & Imaging. Accessed August 1, 2009.
  4. 1 2 Dalkey, Victoria. Mother, son: studies in ancestry and kinship. Sacramento Bee, July 31, 2009. Accessed August 1, 2009.
  5. New York University. Faculty directory. Photography & Imaging. Deborah Willis, Ph.D. Accessed August 1, 2009.
  6. 1 2 Royster-Hemby, Christina. "Reflected in the lens. After years of chronicling the African-American experience, photographer and former MICA professor Deborah Willis turns the camera on herself". Baltimore City Paper, March 30, 2005. Accessed August 2, 2009.
  7. http://debwillisphoto.com/resume
  8. 1 2 3 Deborah Willis résumé. Bernice Steinbaum Gallery. Accessed August 1, 2009.
  9. Duke University. Lehman Brady Visiting Joint Chair Professor in Documentary Studies and American Studies at Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Accessed August 2, 2009.
  10. "African-American History, From Family Albums to Museum Walls". Retrieved May 17, 2014.
  11. John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Deborah Willis. Accessed August 2, 2009.
  12. Associated Press. 12 get grants for efforts on race - Anita Hill among honorees given $50,000 each. Washington Post, April 16, 2005.
  13. "Infinity Awards 1985-1995", International Center of Photography. 1 August 2014.
  14. Bernice Steinbaum Gallery. Artist's page. Accessed August 1, 2009.
  15. Charles Guice Contemporary. Deborah Willis. Accessed August 1, 2009.
  16. Bernice Steinbaum Gallery. Exhibitions 2005-2009. Accessed August 4, 2009.
  17. Columbia University, Miriam & Ira D. Wallach Art Gallery. Progeny: Deborah Willis and Hank Willis Thomas. Accessed August 2, 2009.
  18. Martell, Chris. "Beautiful dreamers - photographer focuses on the threads of beauty that run through the African-American community". Wisconsin State Journal, February 15, 2003.
  19. Schmitz-Rizzo, Margaret. "Kemper Museum displays artist's keepsakes". Kansas City Star, July 5, 2000.
  20. Fox, Catherine. Art review. Atlanta Journal and Constitution, August 28, 1992.
  21. GEORGE, LYNELL (17 July 1995). "Patchwork Stories : By Combining Photography and Quilting, Three Artists Create a Unique Medium for Commenting on the Issues of the Past--and Present". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 24 November 2016.
  22. Williams, edited by Deborah Willis ; with research assistance by Carla (2010). Black Venus, 2010 : they called her "Hottentot". Philadelphia, Pa.: Temple University Press. pp. 90–91. ISBN 1439902046.
  23. Wayne, Tom Beck, Cynthia (1996). Visual griots : works by four African-American photographers : Cary Beth Cryor, Stephen Marc, William Earle Williams, Deborah Willis. Baltimore: Albin O. Kuhn Library & Gallery, University of Maryland Baltimore County. ISBN 1888378018.
  24. John-Hall, Annette. Light and shadow. While Smithsonian curator Deborah Willis is proud of "Reflections in Black," an exhibition of African American photography, suffering clouds her satisfaction. On opening night, her beloved nephew - who helped with the research - was killed in Philadelphia. Philadelphia Inquirer, April 2, 2000.
  25. Traveling exhibition venues (for Reflections in Black) at the Wayback Machine (archived April 15, 2003). Accessed August 2, 2009.
  26. Boxer, Sarah. Photography review; black photographers who are trying to get blackness right. New York Times, November 9, 2001. Accessed August 2, 2009.
  27. Fraser, C. Gerald. Harlem curator helps redefine photography. New York Times, August 6, 1989. Accessed August 2, 2009.
  28. Smith, Virginia. Art review - "Constructed Images: New Photography." Atlanta Journal and Constitution, October 31, 1990.
  29. Hagen, Charles. "Review/photography; How racial and cultural differences affect art". New York Times, August 23, 1991. Accessed August 2, 2009.

Further reading

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