Dismal Science: Photoworks by Allan Sekula 1972-1992

October 8 - November 17, 1996

Dismal Science is a museum survey of eight photographic projects produced by artist and writer Allan Sekula during the past 24 years. Sekula’s art interrogates the traditions of documentary photography and romantic notions of the artist's role in society. He reached prominence as both an artist and theorist in 1984 when a book of his works, Photography against the Grain, was published by The Press of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. 

Sekula’s discursive texts, sequential photographs, slide projection pieces, and audio recordings appeal to reason as well as emotion. His art is designed to increase our capacity for discernment and engage us in struggles for social transformation. 

Early works such as Aerospace Folktales and Meditations on A Triptychexplore the ways in which family and personal life are shaped by religion, gender roles, and class. More recent works, including Canadian Notes, Fish Story and Dismal Science, examine abandoned, camouflaged, and abstract landscapes marked by the global movement of labor, goods, and power. Crucial to Sekula’s projects are the ironies he finds in our culture’s blind economic optimism and its blatant disregard for consequences.

In this era of dissolving boundaries between academic disciplines and cultural traditions, museums must question existing concepts of art and its social role. Sekula’s audience is international and interdisciplinary in scope. His projects address the struggles of individuals and cultures caught in the cold war and post-cold-war economies. His narrative elements—assembled from news, advertising, literature, and everyday experience—trace the impact of a shifting global economy on the lives of working people. We must navigate between several points of reference in Sekula’s narratives. The media consumer, interviewer, subjective narrator, and objective reporter are among the many voices we may encounter in a given work. 

Publication

Sample Pages

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Exhibition Documentation

Exhibition Photos

 

Events & Programming

Exhibition reception

December 8
7:00 p.m.

Exhibition Information

Exhibition Brochure

Exhibition Tour

University Galleries
(Illinois State University)
Normal, Illinois
October 8 - November 17, 1996

Palmer Museum of Art
Pennsylvania State University
University Park, Pennsylvania
January 14 - March 16, 1997

Daadgalerie
Berlin, Germany
August 2 - September 7, 1997

Camerawork
London, England
October 16 - November 30, 1997

Nederlands Foto Instituut
Rotterdam, Netherlands
December 13, 1997 - January 25, 1998

Kunstverein  München
Munich, Germany
February 4 - March 29, 1998

John Curtin Gallery
(Curtin University of Technology)
Perth, Australia
May 27 - July 7, 1998

Atlanta College of Art Gallery
Atlanta College of Art
Atlanta, Georgia
October 9 - November 29, 1998