Photo Exhibition Parallels 1968 and 2008

By Richard Pierce

The Department of Photography & Imaging in the Kanbar Institute of Film and Television at the Tisch School of the Arts displays 75 works by 56 artists in the new show 1968: Then and Now. The exhibition includes letters, photographs, paintings, prints, video, and installation pieces, and is on view through Nov. 22.
    1968: Then and Now explores an era when a multitude of social movements climaxed in discontent with political order, particularly in the United States, that was rooted in domestic racial inequality and imperialist foreign policy. It also serves as a reflection on the presence of the memory of that period in our hearts and minds 40 years later. Curated by Deborah Willis, University Professor and chair of the department, the exhibition combines historic and contemporary images that construct stories about the culture of resistance, beauty, power, and the notion of disenfranchisement.  
    “Today, our world is saturated with iconic images that reflect upon and draw from 1968,” said Willis.  “The work on view will transform the viewers understanding of identity, resistance, war, and peace.”
    The exhibition will be on view in the Gulf and Western Gallery and in the 8th floor gallery of the Tisch Department of Photography & Imaging, located at 721 Broadway. In conjunction with the exhibit, a symposium of the same title will be held as a part of the TSOA Day of Community on Monday, Oct. 20 at the Cooper Union Great Hall. For further information, visit photo.tisch.nyu.edu or call 212-998-1930.

At top: Ambush (archival inkjet on canvas) by Paul Owen, associate professor at Tisch. At bottom: Untitled RFK by Stephen Shames.