Norton presents Outside/In, first exhibition by new Curator of Photography Tim B. Wride
The work of six Florida photographers is featured
Tim B. Wride, the new William & Sarah Ross Soter Curator of Photography at the Norton Museum of Art raised the curtain on his inaugural exhibition. Titled Outside/In: Florida Photographers Face-to-Face with the Museum Collection, the exhibition opened at 5 p.m. on March 22, 2012 during Art After Dark.
The featured photographers are: Maria Martinez-Cañas, from Miami; Alexander Dias, from St. Augustine; Valerie George, from Pensacola, Christopher Morris, based in Tampa, and the team of Eduardo del Valle and Mirta Gómez, also from Miami. Wride will discuss Martinez-Canas’ work with the artist at 6:30 p.m. also on March 22 at the Museum. (Christopher Morris will present an Artist Lecture at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, May 24.)
“Their work,” says Wride, explores issues of identity, culture, environment, surveillance, and the documentary, and will be juxtaposed with works from the Norton’s Photography Collection to create a ‘dialog’ between the photographers and the Museum Collection.”
Wride used this first exhibition as a way to get acquainted with his new home. Before joining the Norton, he spent 14 years at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) as Curator of Photography. Curating Outside/In enabled him to get acquainted with Florida and some of its artists as he travelled to their studios. It also provided the initial opportunity to explore the Norton’s Photography Collection which includes about 3,000 works.
“As a museum curator arriving in an unfamiliar region,” Wride notes, “there are additional discoveries that become imperative before one can truly feel a part of the community: understanding the diversity and needs of your audiences; acquainting yourself with the artists who call your new home theirs, and finally, intimately absorbing the contents and possibilities of the collection you have been hired to shepherd.”
He adds that, “The latter process—the curatorial one—is a continuous endeavor that began the moment I took the job as the William and Sarah Ross Soter Curator of Photography. My first exhibition for the Norton, Outside/In, is a barometer of sorts, an early indicator of where I am in the process of becoming a part of my new community.”
The Norton Museum of Art is a major cultural attraction in Florida, and internationally known for its distinguished Permanent Collection featuring American Art, Chinese Art, Contemporary Art, European Art and Photography. The Norton is located at 1451 S. Olive Ave. in West Palm Beach, FL., and is open Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. (Closed on Mondays and major Holidays). For additional information, please call 561-832-5196, or visit www.norton.org.
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