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Deana Lawson

Deana Lawson, Black Horizons, 2020 Pigment print, 50 × 68 ⅝ inches (127 × 174.3 cm), edition of 4 + 2 AP© Deana Lawson

Deana Lawson, Black Horizons, 2020

Pigment print, 50 × 68 ⅝ inches (127 × 174.3 cm), edition of 4 + 2 AP
© Deana Lawson

Deana Lawson, Boombox, 2020 Hologram (glass with silver halide emulsion coating), 12 × 16 inches (30.5 × 40.6 cm), edition of 3 + 2 AP© Deana Lawson

Deana Lawson, Boombox, 2020

Hologram (glass with silver halide emulsion coating), 12 × 16 inches (30.5 × 40.6 cm), edition of 3 + 2 AP
© Deana Lawson

Deana Lawson, Nation, 2018 Pigment print with collaged photograph, 55 ½ × 67 ¼ inches (141 × 170.8 cm), edition of 4 + 2 AP© Deana Lawson

Deana Lawson, Nation, 2018

Pigment print with collaged photograph, 55 ½ × 67 ¼ inches (141 × 170.8 cm), edition of 4 + 2 AP
© Deana Lawson

Deana Lawson, Portal, 2017 Pigment print, 43 × 53 inches (109.2 × 134.6 cm), edition of 4 + 2 AP© Deana Lawson

Deana Lawson, Portal, 2017

Pigment print, 43 × 53 inches (109.2 × 134.6 cm), edition of 4 + 2 AP
© Deana Lawson

Deana Lawson, Barbara and Mother, 2017 Pigment print, 69 × 55 inches (175.3 × 139.7 cm), edition of 4 + 2 AP© Deana Lawson

Deana Lawson, Barbara and Mother, 2017

Pigment print, 69 × 55 inches (175.3 × 139.7 cm), edition of 4 + 2 AP
© Deana Lawson

Deana Lawson, Cortez, 2016 Pigment print, 40 × 50 inches (101.6 × 127 cm), edition of 4 + 2 AP© Deana Lawson

Deana Lawson, Cortez, 2016

Pigment print, 40 × 50 inches (101.6 × 127 cm), edition of 4 + 2 AP
© Deana Lawson

Deana Lawson, Shawntel, 2016 Inkjet print, 55 ⅜ × 43 inches (140.7 × 109.2 cm), edition of 4 + 2 AP© Deana Lawson

Deana Lawson, Shawntel, 2016

Inkjet print, 55 ⅜ × 43 inches (140.7 × 109.2 cm), edition of 4 + 2 AP
© Deana Lawson

Deana Lawson, Walking Home on Some Road, Gemena, DR Congo, 2015 Pigment print, 35 × 44 inches (88.9 × 111.8 cm), edition of 3 + 2 AP© Deana Lawson

Deana Lawson, Walking Home on Some Road, Gemena, DR Congo, 2015

Pigment print, 35 × 44 inches (88.9 × 111.8 cm), edition of 3 + 2 AP
© Deana Lawson

Deana Lawson, Cowboys, 2014 Pigment print, 40 × 50 inches (101.6 × 127 cm), edition of 3 + 2 AP© Deana Lawson

Deana Lawson, Cowboys, 2014

Pigment print, 40 × 50 inches (101.6 × 127 cm), edition of 3 + 2 AP
© Deana Lawson

Deana Lawson, Coulson Family, 2008 Inkjet print, 30 × 39 ¼ inches (76.2 × 99.7 cm), edition of 6 + 2 AP© Deana Lawson

Deana Lawson, Coulson Family, 2008

Inkjet print, 30 × 39 ¼ inches (76.2 × 99.7 cm), edition of 6 + 2 AP
© Deana Lawson

Deana Lawson, Girls with Oiled Faces, 2004 Inkjet print, 24 × 31 inches (61 × 78.7 cm), edition of 6 + 2 AP© Deana Lawson

Deana Lawson, Girls with Oiled Faces, 2004

Inkjet print, 24 × 31 inches (61 × 78.7 cm), edition of 6 + 2 AP
© Deana Lawson

About

A leading photo-based artist of her generation, Deana Lawson is renowned for images that explore how communities and individuals hold space within shifting terrains of social, capital, and ecological orders. Lawson projects her own contemporary Black experience onto an expanded view of human history and cosmologies. Her gaze is both local and global, focusing on Brooklyn, the Americas, and countries connected to the African diaspora.

Lawson’s striking large-scale prints emphasize themes of the corporeal, with the body as a site of social, cultural, and cosmological inscriptions. Taking inspiration from traditions including the vernacular snapshot, social documentary, and studio portraiture, she considers the visual language of the camera and the power of representation, beauty, and defiance.

Lawson was born in 1979 in Rochester, New York. Her mother was an administrative assistant at Kodak, and her father worked at Xerox; he was also an avid family photographer, informing her early interest in the medium and the family album. She studied photography at Pennsylvania State University, graduating with a BFA in 2001, and continued her studies at the Rhode Island School of Design, earning her MFA in 2004. In 2012, Lawson joined the faculty of Princeton University, where she was named the inaugural Dorothy Krauklis ’78 Professor of Visual Arts in 2021. In 2013, she received a Guggenheim Foundation grant, facilitating her travel to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Haiti, and Jamaica.

Lawson was the recipient of the 2020 Hugo Boss Prize—the first artist working in photography to receive the award—which led to Centropy, an exhibition at Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum featuring her photographs and a visual essay in the form of an eponymous film. Her first comprehensive museum survey was curated by Peter Eleey and Eva Respini, debuting at Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, in 2021, and traveling to MoMA PS1, New York (2022) and the High Museum of Art, Atlanta (2022–23). In 2022, she was awarded the prestigious Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize.

Fairs, Events & Announcements

Gagosian’s booth at Paris Photo 2023. Artwork, left to right: © Man Ray 2015 Trust/ADAGP, Paris 2023; ©️ Estate of Jan Groover; © Kwame Brathwaite; © Jeff Wall; © 2023 June Leaf and Robert Frank Foundation; © Tyler Mitchell. Photo: Thomas Lannes

Art Fair

Paris Photo 2023
Still Life Stilled

November 9–12, 2023, booth b10
Grand Palais Ephémère, Paris
www.parisphoto.com

Gagosian is pleased to participate in Paris Photo 2023 at the Grand Palais Éphémère. Still Life Stilled is a catalytic presentation, organized by Joshua Chuang, of historical and contemporary works that explore photography’s unique capacity to both invest inanimate tableaux with substance and find meaning in suspending the theater of life.

Gagosian’s booth at Paris Photo 2023. Artwork, left to right: © Man Ray 2015 Trust/ADAGP, Paris 2023; ©️ Estate of Jan Groover; © Kwame Brathwaite; © Jeff Wall; © 2023 June Leaf and Robert Frank Foundation; © Tyler Mitchell. Photo: Thomas Lannes

Gagosian’s booth at Taipei Dangdai 2023. Artwork, left to right: © Mark Grotjahn; © Zeng Fanzhi; © 2023 Takashi Murakami/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. Photo: Ringo Cheung

Art Fair

Taipei Dangdai 2023

May 12–14, 2023, booth E10
Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center
taipeidangdai.com

Gagosian is pleased to participate in Taipei Dangdai 2023, presenting works by Louise Bonnet, Dan Colen, Edmund de Waal, Urs Fischer, Cy Gavin, Nan Goldin, Katharina Grosse, Mark Grotjahn, Damien Hirst, Thomas Houseago, Yayoi Kusama, Deana Lawson, Takashi Murakami, Sterling Ruby, Alexandria Smith, Spencer Sweeney, Kon Trubkovich, Mary Weatherford, Cameron Welch, Anna Weyant, and Zeng Fanzhi.

Gagosian’s booth at Taipei Dangdai 2023. Artwork, left to right: © Mark Grotjahn; © Zeng Fanzhi; © 2023 Takashi Murakami/Kaikai Kiki Co., Ltd. All rights reserved. Photo: Ringo Cheung

Photo: © Deana Lawson

New Representation

Deana Lawson

Gagosian is pleased to announce the representation of Deana Lawson in New York, Europe, and Asia. To inaugurate the relationship, the gallery will exhibit her photographs in a joint presentation with Sally Mann at Paris Photo, from November 11 to 13, 2022. A major survey of Lawson’s work is on view at the High Museum of Art, Atlanta, through February 19, 2023.

A leading photo-based artist of her generation, Lawson is renowned for images that explore how communities and individuals hold space within shifting terrains of social, capital, and ecological orders. Lawson projects her own contemporary Black experience onto an expanded view of human history and cosmologies. Her gaze is both local and global, focusing on Brooklyn, the Americas, and countries connected to the African diaspora.

Photo: © Deana Lawson

See all News for Deana Lawson

Museum Exhibitions

Installation view, ICP at 50: From the Collection, 1845–2019, International Center of Photography, New York, January 24–May 6, 2024. Artwork, left to right: © Nan Goldin, © Zanele Muholi, © Deana Lawson. Photo: Jeenah Moon, courtesy International Center of Photography

On View

ICP at 50
From the Collection, 1845–2019

Through May 6, 2024
International Center of Photography, New York
www.icp.org

ICP at 50 is a thematic exploration of the many processes that comprise the history of the photographic medium, drawn from the International Center of Photography’s holdings. The institution was established in 1974 and the exhibition offers insight into the breadth and depth of its collection which spans from the nineteenth century to the present day. Work by Richard Avedon, Nan Goldin, Deana Lawson, and Andy Warhol is included.

Installation view, ICP at 50: From the Collection, 1845–2019, International Center of Photography, New York, January 24–May 6, 2024. Artwork, left to right: © Nan Goldin, © Zanele Muholi, © Deana Lawson. Photo: Jeenah Moon, courtesy International Center of Photography

Derrick Adams, Woman in Grayscale (Alicia), 2017 © Derrick Adams Studio

On View

Giants
Art from the Dean Collection of Swizz Beatz and Alicia Keys

Through July 7, 2024
Brooklyn Museum, New York
www.brooklynmuseum.org

Giants, the first major exhibition of the Dean Collection, owned by musical icons Swizz Beatz (Kasseem Dean) and Alicia Keys, showcases a focused selection from the couple’s world-class holdings and spotlights works by Black diasporic artists. Expansive in their collecting habits, the Deans, both born and raised in New York, champion a philosophy of “artists supporting artists.” “Giants” refers to the renown of legendary artists, the impact of canon-expanding contemporary figures, and some of the monumental works in the collection. Work by Derrick Adams, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Titus Kaphar, and Deana Lawson is included.

Derrick Adams, Woman in Grayscale (Alicia), 2017 © Derrick Adams Studio

Deana Lawson, The Garden, 2015 © Deana Lawson

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Deana Lawson in
Inheritance

June 28, 2023–February 4, 2024
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
whitney.org

Inheritance traces the profound impact of legacy and the past across familial, historical, and aesthetic lines. Featuring new acquisitions and rarely seen works by forty-three artists drawn from the Whitney’s own collection, the exhibition includes painting, sculpture, video, photography, and time-based media installations from the 1970s to the present day. This diverse array of works considers what has been passed on and how this may shift, change, or live again. Work by Deana Lawson is included.

Deana Lawson, The Garden, 2015 © Deana Lawson

Deana Lawson, Young Grandmother, 2019 © Deana Lawson

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Deana Lawson in
Put It This Way: (Re)Visions of the Hirshhorn Collection

August 2, 2022–September 4, 2023
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC
hirshhorn.si.edu

This exhibition unites almost a century of work by forty-nine women and nonbinary artists in a range of mediums drawn exclusively from the Hirshhorn’s permanent collection. Titled after a 1963 painting by American Pop artist Rosalyn Drexler, Put It This Way speaks to traditionally marginalized artists’ decisive and virtuosic achievements, and investigates a wide array of aesthetic, political, and historical concerns. The full-floor presentation is intended to encourage conversations around the significance of gender in creating and perceiving an artwork, the effects of categorizing artists by gender, and the museum’s role and responsibilities in stewarding the national collection of modern and contemporary art. Work by Deana Lawson is included.

Deana Lawson, Young Grandmother, 2019 © Deana Lawson

See all Museum Exhibitions for Deana Lawson