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Surveillance Images Become Art: Lawson's Powerful Exhibition
10 Oct
Summary
- Artist Deana Lawson transforms beauty store surveillance photos into large-scale art.
- The exhibition explores themes of power, personhood, consumerism, and race.
- Lawson's work challenges viewers to confront their own biases and perceptions.
Artist Deana Lawson's exhibition, "Edge Control," at New York City's Gagosian gallery, utilizes surveillance images from beauty supply stores. These images, typically warnings about shoplifting, are enlarged and presented as art, prompting a re-examination of power dynamics and personhood.
Lawson's work draws parallels to bell hooks' analysis of the "gaze" and its historical trauma for Black people. By framing these candid surveillance photos as art, Lawson transforms passive observation into active participation for the viewer.
The exhibition challenges perceptions of wrongdoing and surveillance, particularly within beauty supply stores in Black neighborhoods that are often not Black-owned. The artist's deliberate ambiguity in the images encourages contemplation of identity and societal judgments.
Contrasting these with Lawson's signature portraits of Black individuals in private settings, the exhibition presents Blackness through a spectrum of life. The subjects' gazes meet the viewer's, reinforcing their humanity and exploring beauty within the mundane.
Ultimately, "Edge Control" highlights the vulnerability of those under surveillance and blurs the lines between spectator and participant. Lawson's artistic choices confront viewers with their own biases, achieving a temporary parity by valuing all subjects equally.
