In Rome, ‘Portraits’ Exhibition of Photographer Alec Soth Opens at the AAR 21 May

Photographer Alec Soth

The American Academy in Rome and Gagosian Gallery are pleased to present Alec Soth: Portraits, a selected exhibition of photographs spanning the last twelve years. The show in the AAR Gallery opens on Friday 21 May (6.00-9.00 PM), and runs to Saturday 3 July 2010.

In the unique portraits of American subjects here presented, Soth echoes the humanist tradition established by the great chroniclers of the American experience such as Walker Evans, Robert Frank, and Stephen Shore.

His images illustrate a vast array of individual subjects while capturing the shared mood of a country disillusioned with and deceived by its own identity—from mothers of marines serving in Iraq to teenage mothers in the Louisiana Bayou; from religious propaganda in the American workplace to the mortgage crisis in Stockton, CA. Soth’s incisive depictions of the current American reality expose the steady decline of the American Empire and challenge the romanticized ideology of the American Dream.

Alec Soth (b. 1969) is a photographer born and based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. His photographs have been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions, including the 2004 Whitney, New York, and São Paulo Biennials. In 2008, a large survey exhibition of Soth’s work was exhibited at Jeu de Paume in Paris and Fotomuseum Winterthur in Switzerland. In 2010, an important solo exhibition was presented at the Milan Triennale, Italy. Soth will be further celebrated this year at the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, which will exhibit and tour a large survey exhibition of his work in the United States.

Alec Soth’s first monograph, Sleeping by the Mississippi, was published by Steidl in 2004 to critical acclaim. Since then Soth has published NIAGARA (2006), Fashion Magazine (2007), Dog Days, Bogotá (2007) and The Last Days of W (2008). In 2008, Soth started his own publishing company, Little Brown Mushroom.

Soth is represented by Gagosian Gallery in New York, and is a member of Magnum Photos. He is the recipient of several major fellowships from the Bush, McKnight and Jerome Foundations and was awarded the 2003 Santa Fe Prize for Photography. His work is represented in major public and private collections, including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.

From 24 May to 3 July Alec Soth: Portraits can be viewed at the AAR Monday—Friday 9.30am—12.30 pm or by appointment (T. +39.06.584.6459). Lexi Eberspacher is organizing the exhibition for the American Academy in Rome and serves as press contact (T. +39.06.5846470; l.eberspacher@aarome.org).

[PS. The event was a super-smash—Ed.]

From left, current Fellow Terry Adkins, Merele Williams, Heiskell Arts Director Martin Brody RAAR’02, Alec Soth, current Fellow Nancy Davenport

From left, AAR Programs Associate Lexi Eberspacher and Manuela Cuccuru (Gagosian Gallery Roma)

AAR Director Carmela Vircillo Franklin FAAR’85, RAAR’02, with Alec Soth