NYAB Event - Elyse Defoor “Relics of Marriage”

Elyse Defoor “Relics of Marriage”

Umbrella Arts

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Umbrella Arts presents Relics of Marriage, an exhibition of twelve color photographs by Atlanta based artist Elyse Defoor. Drawing from a collection of over sixty previously worn wedding gowns, Defoor has explored the iconography of the white wedding dress as an emotionally ridden human artifact.

Defoor, whose most recent work has explored the structure and place of women in modern society, will present selections from her Relics of Marriage series, elegantly stark color photographs that approach the wedding dress as foreign object, a focus with often haunting results.
The photographs, more akin to portraiture than fashion, are deceptively simple in their format, typically featuring dresses hung from a single chain, lit against a dark background. That simplicity, however, quickly leads to a gaping pit of questions –Who wore this dress? Was she happy then? Now? Did the marriage last? – that force the viewer to wrestle with the very notion of what does a costume cover and what does it reveal.

“Elyse Defoor’s “Relics of Marriage” project is haunting and poignant. With enigmatic grace it invites a meditation on the time-honored rites of marriage, their contradictions and joys, and their deeply felt meanings. – Brett Abbott, Keough Family Curator of Photography & Head of Collections, High Museum of Art.