Dawoud Bey: Harlem, USA June 19, 2012

In 1979 African American photographer Dawoud Bey held his first solo exhibition at the Studio Museum in Harlem, showing a suite of 25 photographs titled 'Harlem, U.S.A.' Bey had been in residence at that museum for one year, and he had made the surrounding neighborhood a subject of study since 1975. Though raised in Queens, Bey and his family had roots in Harlem, and it was a youthful visit to the exhibition 'Harlem on My Mind' at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1969, that had given Bey his determination to become an artist. Thanks to the efforts of more than 20 patrons, led by Leadership Advisory Committee members Anita Blanchard and Les Coney, the complete vintage set of 'Harlem, U.S.A.' has been acquired by the Art Institute. A further five photographs from that time, never before printed or exhibited, will be donated by Bey to the museum this fall. Complementing this exhibition are a selection of permanent collection works in Gallery 10 curated by Bey as well as a career survey of Bey's work presented at the Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago.