A stirring collection of photographs, videos, and testimonials, “Kris Graves: The Testament Project” is now on display in the Rare Book Room of Canaday Library.
Graves on his work:
The Testament Project is an exploration and re-conception of the contemporary black experience in America. More often than not, black people are portrayed in the extreme—either as very rich or very poor, they are demonized, infantilized, ridiculed, idolized or hyper-sexualized; and within the art canon there is a noticeable scarcity of black representation.
In these glowing portraits, control of the colored lighting is given to my subjects, in order to create a space that is participatory and empowered. By including subjects in the creation of the scene and the altering of color, I seek to create photographs that portray individuality in addition to their blackness.
“The Testament Project” is the first of many exhibits planned and hosted by Bryn Mawr’s Special Collections for the 2016-2017 school year. The exhibit combines the creative forces of Graves and Carrie Robbins, making her debut as curator of art and artifacts for Bryn Mawr’s Special Collections. The exhibit is open daily from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and lasts until December 18. The exhibition opened with an artist reception and lecture on Sept. 21. To see images from the event, visit this online gallery.
Graves' latest project, in which he traveled across the country to document the physical spaces where 8 black men lost their lives at the hands of police, appears on the Vanity Fair website Hive.