Deana Lawson, Oath , 2013; from Deana Lawson: An Aperture Monograph. © Deana Lawson / courtesy Rhona Hoffman Gallery and Sikkema Jenkins & Co.
Deana Lawson’s photographs embody the realm of myth, a space where the divine and mortal realms merge. They centre around the subjects of family, spirituality, sexuality, and intimacy within the black experience, in the US, the Caribbean, and Africa. She credits Carrie Mae Weems and Renee Cox for piquing her interest in documenting issues of race and identity, as well as cultivating a nuanced conversation around black aesthetic in both art and daily life.
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Now living in Brooklyn, Lawson draws inspiration from everything – from vintage nudes, juke joints and acrylic nails, to fried fish, lace curtains, the Notorious B.I.G. and thrift shops. Her large-scale photographs are extremely formalist and meticulously staged, but they’re also profoundly intimate studies of black life around the globe today.
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Her first monograph, Deana Lawson (Aperture), presents 40 key works made over the past decade in the US, the Caribbean, and Africa. A selection of 13 photographs and a new film will be on view in Deana Lawson, the new exhibition opening at the Underground Museum in Los Angeles on October 12, 2018.
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Deana Lawson, Nikki’s Kitchen , 2015; from Deana Lawson: An Aperture Monograph. © Deana Lawson / courtesy Rhona Hoffman Gallery and Sikkema Jenkins & Co.