Martine Fougeron’s photography exhibition, Heart of the South Bronx: Trades, opens at The Half King September 17. A hybrid art project/document about the active industries of Port Morris and Hunts Point, the project comprises four parts: portrait, landscape, environment, and abstract. On opening night, Curator Elisabeth Biondi will lead a discussion with Fougeron over a screening of this work.
Elisabeth Biondi curated Fougeron’s solo show this past summer in the Arts Container at THE POINT. “Once Martine Fougeron decides on a project, she will commit herself to explore it in depth and with singular dedication. It is what she has done with her award-winning fine art project ‘Teen Tribe’ which has been exhibited widely. For the past four years she has dedicated herself to a new significant endeavor: ‘Heart of the South Bronx: Trades’.”
Parisian-born, Martine Fougeron studied at Wellesley College and l’Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris. After a successful career as a Creative Director in the fragrance industry, she turned to photography, studying at the International Center of Photography in New York. Her solo shows include Los Angeles, New York and Philadelphia and her work has been exhibited internationally in China, France, Italy, South Korea, and Switzerland. Her first monograph ‘Teen Tribe’, intimate portraits of her adolescent sons and their friends, will be published in 2014 by Steidl.
Elizabeth Avedon: Apart from developing a great body of work,what was your thought process behind this project?
Martine Fougeron: The exhibition “Heart of the South Bronx: Trades” is an on-going personal and public-art project on the Trades of the South Bronx industrial neighborhoods – Hunts Point and Port Morris.
I began the work in 2011, soon after I moved to the South Bronx. I created portraits of workers, interiors, machines, processes, and products of these diverse industries. No attention has been brought to that industrious side of the South Bronx. The press only talks of the same old crime and sex stories.
On the one hand, I focus on century-old industrial steel production, scrap metal recycling, and scaffoldings. On the other hand, I portray artisanal family trades like baking, printing, and hand-made bedding. I also include recent activities near the Hunt’s Point Food Market—custom-prepping fish, crafting wooden boats, and creating green roof tops on the industrial buildings.
Elisabeth Biondi, the curator of the solo show in the Arts Container at THE POINT this summer, remarked: “Ms. Fougeron decided to cover photographically each trade in four different ways. Her compelling portraits focus on the working people; her striking landscapes place the project geographically; her environmental pictures are both informative and reflective; and her close-ups are simply beautiful abstractions. Together it adds up to a remarkable artistic document of Port Morris and Hunts Point.”
EA: How you did you get involved with the industries at Hunts Point and Port Morris?
MF: My studio is very near the factories and I was fascinated by what I could not see. I could never see inside the industrial buildings-despite the incessant activity of workers as well as incessant loading and unloading of goods. It was about beholding the Bronx trades inside out–from Bolts to Nuts.
So I started extensive research. I identified the various enterprises that make up the economic community here. From the beginning my goal was to highlight the historic and economic importance of trades and workers in The South Bronx. I did not want to focus on the difficulties and familiar, grim visual clichés of The South Bronx. Instead I examined what keeps people working in businesses large and small and what is being produced and crafted with care. There are over 800 businesses in the area, employing over 20,000 workers.
It was very difficult to gain access. After doing research, I basically had to go there, knock on the door and explain the project on a one-to-one to the owners of these small businesses. I would go with The POINT’S Visual Arts Director Carey Clark which helped a lot as THE POINT has been doing so much great work to integrate via creativity and art the communities with the industries.
EA: What is the history of this area?
MF: Hunts Point and Port Morris are located at the confluence of the Bronx River to the East and the East River to the South. Its boundaries are the Bruckner Expressway – a Robert Moses construction- to the west and north, which created a total barrier to this area dominated by industry.
Many of the trades have been there since the early 1900’s, and one finds striking industrial buildings and brick warehouses dating from the beginning of the century. The original industries were the steel manufacturers, but the industries have since diversified, with a heavy presence of auto part dealers and metal recycling. It is the location of one of the largest food distribution facilities in the world: The Hunts Point Food Distribution Center as well as the New Fulton Fish Market.
EA: If you are including portraits, who are the people in your photographs?
MF: I always include portraits of the workers. I was fascinated to observe the craftsmanship and pride of the workers. I felt their dignity of being responsible for a product from A to Z, within small teams. Most of the workers in a given industry are of the same nationality (mostly Puerto Ricans, also Ecuadorians, and all the melting pot of NY) and come in by cooptation and they stay there for a long time. Like the Valencia Pastry decorator and calligrapher, she is presenting the cake to customers who have pre-ordered it. Nancy has been with the company for 23 years.
EA: Tell me about discovering the murals in this area.
MF: The beauty of the Murals in Hunts Point especially gave me the idea of continuing this project with large scale photo-murals in the neighborhoods so that the residents can get to see from their streets what goes on inside the factories which are sealed to the public.
Many of the most beautiful murals are done by TAT’s Cru or are orchestrated as public art projects by THE POINT with the Village of Murals program. They are not just graffiti. They are Murals, huge frescoes which tell a story. And what is marvelous is that they are in the middle of the recycling cranes from SIM’s. There is a real integration of the arts with the industries that has started.
EA: What would you like us to take away from your exhibition or what would you like us to know about the area?
MF: The project will continue with The Trade Talks, large scale photo-murals in the neighborhoods with the Village of Murals and a comprehensive book.
This project functions on many levels: as art, documentary, and importantly as an agent of social engagement. Its process brings diverse elements of these neighborhoods together. In Hunts Point the residents and industries are often at odds. Hunts Point is a low-income residential neighborhood.
The project aims to highlight the historic and economic importance of the industries of Hunts Point and Port Morris to the wider New York community, bring closer together the area’s residential and industrial communities, and encourage youths to pursue their own trade in the Bronx and beyond.
I initiated with THE POINT the first “trades Talks’ on July 24, 2014 as part of a Career Day with the youth of Hunts Point. The local youth were introduced to vocations and skills by industry captains whose trade I had photographed. It was thrilling.
As the project continues, I am involved with The Village of Murals program organized by The POINT it will engage local residents and youth through large-scale public art murals displaying the photographs on the exterior of the factory buildings –transforming the stark industrial landscape into a revelation of the interior landscape for the local communities.
Elizabeth Avedon
EXHIBITION
Martine Fougeron
Heart of The South Bronx
September 17 – October 19, 2014
The Half King
505 West 23 Street, NY, NY
Curator Elisabeth Biondi with Martine Fougeron
Opening night discussion and screening: Wednesday, September 17, 2014 7:30pm
http://www.martinefougeron.com
www.halfkingphoto.com
http://thepoint.org
http://thepoint.org/villageofmurals.php
#bronxtrades
