Re/member/construct at Filter Photo

Re/member/construct at Filter Photo by Aline SmithsonSeptember 21, 2018

©Kelly Anderson-Staley

Next week, the events for the 2018 Filter Photo Festival get underway, and along with the Portfolio Reviews, lectures, workshops, and artist talks, are a number of wonderful exhibitions. Today we feature the Re/member/construct Exhibition, juried by Lisa Volpe, Associate Curator, Photography at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. The exhibition runs through October 27, 2018 with a reception on September 28 | 6 pm – 9 pm at the Filter Space 1821 W. Hubbard St., Ste. 207, in Chicago.

©Frederica Armstrong

“When I taught History of Photography, to both undergraduates or to graduate students, I always began the first session in the same way. I would write the word “photograph” across the board in large letters and then turn to the class to ask them what it meant. We often take that specific string of letters for granted and forget the complexity it represents. Despite the singularity of the word, the polysemous nature of it would quickly become apparent to the class. After all, “photograph” is a noun, often used interchangeably to describe both the tangible and intangible: an object that is held in the hand, and also an image held in the mind. It is a verb: the action of capturing an image, of preserving a singular moment. It is a linguistic sign: a word used as a metaphor for direct representation, truth, or accuracy. In semiotics, it is also the signified: both an icon and an index, a photograph refers to something beyond the sign. The complexity and diversity of photography is bound up in its very name. Similarly, the composite title for this exhibition— Re/member/construct—mirrors the variable nature of the photograph.

The work submitted for Filter Photo’s Re/member/construct reveals the breadth of photography today. Artists from across the country and across the globe submitted work reflective of the current state of the medium. The photographs chosen for exhibition were both technically and aesthetically strong, skillfully crafted and cohesive in statement. They tackle issues of identity, loss, presence, pain, and knowledge, their messages strengthened through their means and style. Photography is an incredibly complex field, but that character makes it the perfect vehicle for investigating complex issues. The artists represented here have not shied away from that challenge. In our current complicated culture, the “photograph” is more important than ever.”

Lisa Volpe
Associate Curator, Photography, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

©Eric Bladholm

Lisa Volpe is the Associate Curator, Photography at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Before arriving in Houston, she was the Curator of the Wichita Art Museum where she oversaw all areas of the museum’s collection. Additionally, she held various curatorial roles at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art (SBMA), and fellowships at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and the Cleveland Museum of Art.