A NOTE FROM THE CURATOR; A PERSONAL RESPONSE
As an art dealer and curator specializing in Southern images, it has been a dutiful exploration of my own heritage to exhibit photography that has captured the beautiful, sober accretion of a place geographically below the Mason-Dixon and east of Texas (inclusive, of course). I have worked to focus on photographers whose images chronicle a region that feeds our imagination and that we trust no matter what. For the curator and artist alike, this exhibition is about a land of which we profess a fondness and continue to artistically explore.
From the beginning of Rebekah Jacob Gallery, Jerry Siegel’s photography has been essential to our curatorial program. Though Selma, Alabama is at the center point of Siegel’s oeuvre, his pluralism of Southern themes becomes a poetic documentation that encompasses—and exceeds—Alabama borders. Perhaps his current solo exhibition LOOK SOUTH is a microcosm of a long, unplanned road trip: a clapboard church with wooden pews waiting on someone to arrive; a bar-b-q joint whose interior decoration is sparkling white tiled walls and stuffed deer heads; Tucker’s Grocery whose Christmas lights blink past Easter; and a tin building with a tacky graffiti advertisement that reads, “Celebrity Barber." Siegel’s raw, unstaged material shares imagination between the photographer and viewer, spurring questions like, “Is this ‘for real’ or a movie set?’”
As Jerry and I sifted through hundreds of images over the course of the past year, we worked carefully to select photos that poignantly tell of his South, my South…our South. We selected both black/white and color images that tell of the region’s mythic terrain, African American heritage, and compulsiveness with religion (God Bless; Jesus Saves). Throughout the project, I was reminded of the technical genius of Jerry’s concise eye, inherent skill of knowing when to click the shutter, and undeniable patience for the subject matter. Knowing Jerry personally, I have come to believe that it his dedication to the medium, personal kindness, and genuine spirit that grants a fate of being at the right place at the right time.
To watch a concept doodled on a legal pad evolve into a 3-D exhibition is a patient and often grueling, frustrating process. However, the labor and time of LOOK SOUTH has manifested itself into a stunning selection of photography. And we hope viewers alike will experience the story of a place (below the Mason-Dixon), whose intrinsic complexities are at the root of Heritage and a place for which we are proud, no matter what.
Yours Truly,
A Southerner, by the Grace of God
As an art dealer and curator specializing in Southern images, it has been a dutiful exploration of my own heritage to exhibit photography that has captured the beautiful, sober accretion of a place geographically below the Mason-Dixon and east of Texas (inclusive, of course). I have worked to focus on photographers whose images chronicle a region that feeds our imagination and that we trust no matter what. For the curator and artist alike, this exhibition is about a land of which we profess a fondness and continue to artistically explore.
From the beginning of Rebekah Jacob Gallery, Jerry Siegel’s photography has been essential to our curatorial program. Though Selma, Alabama is at the center point of Siegel’s oeuvre, his pluralism of Southern themes becomes a poetic documentation that encompasses—and exceeds—Alabama borders. Perhaps his current solo exhibition LOOK SOUTH is a microcosm of a long, unplanned road trip: a clapboard church with wooden pews waiting on someone to arrive; a bar-b-q joint whose interior decoration is sparkling white tiled walls and stuffed deer heads; Tucker’s Grocery whose Christmas lights blink past Easter; and a tin building with a tacky graffiti advertisement that reads, “Celebrity Barber." Siegel’s raw, unstaged material shares imagination between the photographer and viewer, spurring questions like, “Is this ‘for real’ or a movie set?’”
As Jerry and I sifted through hundreds of images over the course of the past year, we worked carefully to select photos that poignantly tell of his South, my South…our South. We selected both black/white and color images that tell of the region’s mythic terrain, African American heritage, and compulsiveness with religion (God Bless; Jesus Saves). Throughout the project, I was reminded of the technical genius of Jerry’s concise eye, inherent skill of knowing when to click the shutter, and undeniable patience for the subject matter. Knowing Jerry personally, I have come to believe that it his dedication to the medium, personal kindness, and genuine spirit that grants a fate of being at the right place at the right time.
To watch a concept doodled on a legal pad evolve into a 3-D exhibition is a patient and often grueling, frustrating process. However, the labor and time of LOOK SOUTH has manifested itself into a stunning selection of photography. And we hope viewers alike will experience the story of a place (below the Mason-Dixon), whose intrinsic complexities are at the root of Heritage and a place for which we are proud, no matter what.
Yours Truly,
A Southerner, by the Grace of God
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