𝖉𝖊𝖎𝖗𝖉𝖗𝖊 𝖒𝖈𝖑𝖓𝖙𝖔𝖘𝖍
Curatorial Projects
→ Instructions for Curating a Transnational Exhibition
→ Poster Pulse
→ Melodies of a Farewell
→ Stranger Fruit
→ the buds on the trees look like pistachios
About
Stranger Fruit: The Weight of Absence
Curated by Deirdre McIntosh, with the support of Youthful Vengeance
Youthful Vengeance
June 8 - July 31, 2024
Stranger Fruit: The Weight of Absence featuring the photographs of New York-based artist Jon Henry takes a poignant turn, exploring the transformation that occurs when a home loses a loved one—the very essence that imbued it with warmth and life.
The photographs in this exhibition come from Henry’s series titled Stranger Fruit, which was created as a response to the senseless murders of Black men across the nation by police violence. The series features Black mothers cradling their sons, their poses echoing Michelangelo’s Pietà. While the mothers in Henry’s photographs haven’t directly experienced the loss of a son, they carry the unrest of a very real fear.
As a thin veil of dust settles on empty rooms, these photographs become a testament to the enduring love that once filled them. In the face of alienation and disconnection, Stranger Fruit: The Weight of Absence celebrates the strength of communities and families who persist despite the constant fear of loss and injustice.
In Henry’s photographs, you’ll find an unsettling stillness. Thes ingle place setting laid for a meal never to be eaten. An unmade bed, the sheets mirroring the sheets still the way they were left. The mothers alone, with the weight of absence.