Untitled & Yet to be Determined, 41.8949° N, 87.7654° W (Austin)
Opening: Friday, May 3, 2019 6 – 9 pmFriday, May 3 – Jun 1, 2019
In collaboration with Columbia College Chicago Photography Department and Heartland Alliance, Filter Photo is pleased to announce UNTITLED AND YET TO BE DETERMINED, 41.8949° N, 87.7654° W (AUSTIN), a culminating work by the 2018/2019 Diane Dammeyer Fellowship recipient Sasha Phyars-Burgess.
UNTITLED AND YET TO BE DETERMINED, 41.8949° N, 87.7654° W (AUSTIN) grapples with the effects of disinvestment through redlining on the Austin neighborhood in Chicago. The exhibition is a collaborative effort told through photographs, video, text, and audio, resulting from time spent with two Heartland Alliance programs, the READI program and Mae Suites, as well as with other members of the Austin community. Heartland Alliance, one of the world’s leading anti-poverty organizations, works in communities in the U.S. and abroad to serve those who are homeless, living in poverty, or seeking safety. Through this exhibition, Phyars-Burgess raises more questions than answers, specifically, how do people make their lives in communities that have been segregated, neglected and ignored? The exhibition also includes a non-narrative documentary of the making of a film by READI participants.
The artist has planned several pieces of programming to coincide with the opening reception on May 3rd, including a panel discussion about the future of the Austin community with Zerlina Smith & Rob Breymaier; a performance by Austin resident Looney Givenchy with special guests; and a DJ set to close out the night.
The Diane Dammeyer Fellowship in Photographic Arts and Social Issues provides an opportunity for a socially engaged photographer to produce a compelling and dynamic body of work highlighting human rights and social issues. The Fellow shares time between the Columbia College Chicago Photography Department and Heartland Alliance.
About the Artist:
Sasha Phyars-Burgess was born in Brooklyn, New York to Trinidadian parents and raised in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. She received a BA in photography from Bard College and an MFA from Cornell University. Her photographs employ a documentary style approach in order to view the domestic, the unsupervised, and the ordinary in an effort to explore the varied social, economic, and political realities of the African diaspora.
Image: Sasha Phyars-Burgess