Connecting with the Collection: Photographic Portraits

Curated by Brian Cohen & Laura Domencic

Exhibition Dates: 5/12/2022 – Early 2023

Please note the Museum is closed Friday, May 13th due to a private event.

Location: Frenzel Gallery

This exhibition features a small selection of the many photographic portraits found in the collection of the Erie Art Museum. They represent a wide range of approaches to the genre:  from formal studio-style portraits shot against simple backdrops, to composed scenes that offer contextual clues as to their subject’s identity, to documentary-style photographs and street photography.

Guest curator Brian Cohen is a photographer based out of Pittsburgh, PA focusing on editorial and documentary photographs. Cohen also co-curated Out Of Many – Stories of Migration which is currently on view at the Erie Art Museum. On Thursday, May 19th at 6pm, Cohen will be leading a conversation about portraiture and what they tell us about the individual and the photographer. Cohen will also discuss the works that are in the Connecting with the Collection: Photographic Portraits exhibition, and how it relates to his photography practice.

Artists included in this exhibition are: Serge Balkin, Karen Bell, Kevin Bubriski, Tom Caravaglia, Kerry S. Coppin, Joseph Diess, Michael Emery, Mark Frey, Robert Gilge, Kenneth Graves, Mahlon Hirsch, Kathe Kowalski, Tony Ray-Jones, Arthur Rothstein, Edward Sheriff Curtis, Len Speier, Alfred Stieglitz, Mark Perrott, Jose Picayo, and Rick Smolan.