In 1972, curious about the problem of identity, Melissa Shook began an ambitious project of photographing herself every day for a year. The sum of this impressive undertaking resulted in a compelling set of intimately scaled black and white photographs that range from the artist performing for the camera, to the camera describing the physicality of her being. These early influential photographs are complimented in this exhibition at Joseph Bellows Gallery, in La Jolla (CA, USA), with a selection of recent daily photographs from 2014-15 that combine individual text entries with a self-portrait image. Both text and image act as a diary, reflecting upon the complexities of the human condition. Along with her daily portraits, the gallery is exhibiting a collection of her extended portraits of her daughter Krissy in her teen years, and a compilation of her video pieces. The exhibition in its entirety explores notions of change and aging, as well as photography’s ability to form an extended document to reveal these qualities.
Melissa Shook, Daily Self-Portraits
February 18th – March 31st, 2017
Joseph Bellows Gallery
7661 Girard Ave
La Jolla, CA 92037
USA
