Portraits of ‘rebel’ icons, plus five other photo shows worth seeing

We’re back with our monthly installment of the best photography exhibitions to see around the United States for the months of May and June 2022. Highlights include the return of Brooklyn’s Photoville festival; Elle Pérez: Devotions on view at the Baltimore Museum of Art; and a group show in Chicago that connects global artists of color and Black diasporic artists in one exhibition. Read on to see what else we are looking forward to seeing in May and June. 

William Eggleston: Photographs from the Laura and Jay Crouse Collection

William Eggleston was one of the first fine-art photographers to use color film, which was still considered a novelty at the time. His vivid images of mundane everyday life—old tires, faded signs, dusty condiments in diners past their prime—have influenced countless photographers and have been prominently featured as cover artwork for a number of albums. The thirty images on view at The Gibbes in Charleston are part of Laura and Jay Crouse’s private collection and represent some of the photographer’s most iconic shots. 

Where: The Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston, South Carolina 

When: On view through October 9, 2022 

For more info on the exhibition, go to the museum’s website at gibbesmuseum.org.

Elle Pérez: Devotions

Organized by the Carnegie Museum of Art, this exhibition features 13 images captured between 2019 and 2021 that explore love, sex, and friendship through the lens of grief and care, pain and pleasure, and desire and self-exploration. Pérez tends to center themselves and their relationships within the images—rather than documenting them as an outsider looking in, and the work included in Devotions is no different. The work is an intimate and tangled look at how gender identity, kink, sexuality, pleasure, and pain often coexist. 

Where: Baltimore Museum of Art in Baltimore, Maryland

When: On view through March 19, 2023 

For more info on the exhibition, go to the museum’s website at artbma.org.

James Nachtwey, Memoria

War is hell and James Nachtwey has spent his career photographing it. His professional life has documented the atrocities of war across the globe, making him one of the most well-respected photojournalists working today. His images have also helped shape the way in which Americans understand the human toll of conflict abroad. This exhibition, on view at Fotografiska in New York City, serves as a career overview. It also includes fragments of memories documenting the fallout of international conflicts and human rights violations. His hope is that as the audience bears witness to the atrocities that he has captured with his camera, we can collectively honor the individuals depicted in each moment and not forget how these conditions came to be. 

Where: Fotografiska in New York City

When: On view through August 14, 2022 

For more info on the exhibition, go to the museum’s website at fotografiska.com.

Janette Beckman, Rebels

Spanning nearly four decades, Rebels offers just a snapshot of the larger-than-life creative icons photographed by British music photographer Janette Beckman during her career. Featuring a mixture of black and white and vibrant color photographs, the images on view are authentic and raw, capturing the rebellious spirits of her subjects. The show features images of LL Cool J, Debbie Harry, Joe Strummer, Keith Haring, Tribe Called Quest, and more. As the name suggests, it’s an effortlessly cool show that is sure to inspire creatives of all types. 

Where: Fahey/Klein Gallery in Los Angeles, California 

When: On view through June 18, 2022 

For more info on the exhibition, go to the gallery’s website at faheykleingallery.com.

Photoville 

New York’s free outdoor photo festival returns in a big way this summer, with in-person workshops and walking tours of its exhibitions. Although Photoville will host outdoor exhibitions in twenty locations throughout the five boroughs, Brooklyn Bridge Park will serve as the main hub for events during the month of June. Community Day on June 4 will include a day’s worth of interactive programming at Brooklyn Bridge Park, over thirty exhibitions, and food and beverages from Smorgasborg. 

Where: Brooklyn Bridge Park in Brooklyn

When: June 4-26 2022

For more info on Photoville, go to the festival’s website at photoville.com.

Beautiful Diaspora / You Are Not the Lesser Part

This group exhibition combines two exhibition concepts and features the work of 15 photographers in dialogue over the parallel experiences of global artists of color and Black diasporic artists. This expansive show brings together works that might not typically be presented alongside one another and urges viewers to question how the work fits together and why it’s commonly assumed that the work shouldn’t fit together—both in museum exhibitions and in the outside world. It’s a chance to consider the legacy of colonialism as it exists in the modern era.

The exhibition includes photographic work from Xyza Cruz Bacani, Widline Cadet, Jessica Chou, Cog•nate Collective (Amy Sanchez Arteaga and Misael Diaz), Işıl Eğrikavuk, Citlali Fabián, Sunil Gupta, Kelvin Haizel, David Heo, Damon Locks, Johny Pitts, Farah Salem, Ngadi Smart, Tintin Wulia, and the debut of Abena Appiah. 

Where: Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago 

When: On view through June 26 

For more info on the exhibition, go to the museum’s website at mocp.org.