NYAB Event - David Hilliard "Being Like"

David Hilliard "Being Like"

Yancey Richardson Gallery

This event has ended.

In "Being Like," David Hilliard's 4th solo exhibition, the artist presents a series of multi-panel narrative photographs which examine the often-conflicted nature of masculinity and the environments in which it develops and unfolds. IN this body of work boys of various ages experience a series of physical and emotional test that sere as life markers or milestones, of sorts. They hunt, love, compete, bleed, fail... but ultimately persevere. Although much of Hilliard's work has contained autobiographical reference, this series is the closest he has come to creating an overarching self-portrait. Previously, Hilliard has touched upon themes such as longing, faith morality, sexuality, and father rand son relationships, often revolving around what he calls "the masculine condition" involving lovers, unobtainable strangers, boys coming of age, and his father. Throughout the series there exists an implied lineage: a boy's life lived; sometimes his own own, sometimes another's, with much of the imagery possessing a sense of melancholia not devoid of hope. For Hilliard, "Being Like" is a re-visitation of sorts, where he's often looking back, reflecting upon his own past and photographic practice.

[Image: David Hilliard "Rock Bottom" (2008) Chromogenic Prints (3 Panels) 24 x 60 in.]