DEBORAH WILLIS
Born: 1948, Philadelphia, PA
Exhibitions – Solo and Group selected:
- “Objectives - objectivity,” in Rome - January 27 to February 24, 2012 (touring) British Academy, Embassy of the Netherlands, Real Dutch Institute, Circle Scandinavian, Swiss Institute.
- Progeny: Deborah Willis +Hank Willis Thomas Gantt Center, Charlotte, NC Oct-Dec, 2010, George Mason University, Jan- March 2012
- “CPT: Time, History and Memory”- Gallatin Galleries, New York, Jan- 2012
- ‘I am Going to Eatonville’, Zora Neale Hurston Museum, Eatonville, Fl 2012
- “Celebrating Our Legacy” at the Morris Museum, January - March, 2012
- "Afrique: See you, see me, " Florence, Lagos, Lisbon, Ping Yao, May 2011-12
- “What Matters Now”, Aperture Gallery, New York, Sept– November 2011
- In My Father’s House: An Installation Deb Willis and Lonnie Graham, August Wilson Center, Pittsburgh, Pa, August 2010– August 2011
- Photographs by Charles Martin, Deborah Willis, Salah Hassan and video by Lydie Diakhaté. Algiers PANAF: 1969 – 2009, Institute for African American Affairs, New York University April – June 2010
- Art in the Atrium, Morristown, New Jersey, Jan- March 2010
- High Water Marks: Art and Renewal After Katrina, Amistad Collection, Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT, April –September 2010
- Bodies in Question, New York FotoFest/New York University, New York
- Progeny, Miriam & Ira D Wallach Art Gallery, Columbia University, New York, NY April-May 2009
- Progeny, Bernice Steinbaum Gallery, Miami, FL June – August 2008
- Double Exposure, Wadsworth Antheneum, Hartford, CT, Jan-June 2006
- A Sense of Place: Contemporary African American Art, University of Pittsburgh, Oct 2005
- The Places in Which we Pray are Made Sacred by our Presence, Bernice Steinbaum Gallery, Miami, FL January- February, 2005
- African Queen, Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY, January – April 2005
- Family Matters: Mother to Son, Light Factory, Charlotte, NC, May- June 2005
- Through the Gates: Brown v. Board of Education, California African American Museum, Los Angeles, February – July, 2004
- Screenings/Public & Private, The Noyes Museum of Art, Oceanville, NJ, January-March 2004
- HairStories, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art, AZ, traveling 2003-4
- Embracing Eatonville: A Photographic Survey, Light Work, Syracuse, NY 2003-4
- Mother to Son: Deborah Willis + Hank Thomas, Texas Woman’s University, Denton, TX, Feb- April 2003.
- Deborah Willis: Appearances, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Feb-April 2003
- Through our Lenses: Personal and Political Views of 18 Photographers, Nathan Cummings Foundation, New York, NY, Feb-April 2003
- Off the Record, The Skylight Gallery, Brooklyn, NY March – May 2003
- Beggars and Choosers, Birmingham Museum of Art -2002-2004
- Over the Sofa, Bernice Steinbaum Gallery, Miami, FL., 2001-2003
- Response to 9.11: Faculty and Staff Exhibition, TSOA, New York University, Fall 2001
- Deborah Wills: Regarding Beauty, (solo) Steinbaum Gallery, Miami, FL. -2001
- Three Contemporary Artists in the Classroom, Center for Documentary Studies, Duke University, Durham, NC - 2001
- Reading Between the Lines: Image, Text and the African American Experience, Salt Lake Art Center, Salt Lake City, UT, 2000-2001.
- Tied to Memory, University of Alabama, Sarah Moody Art Gallery, Birmingham, AL, 2000. (solo)
- Tied to Memory, Kemper Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2000.
- Picturing the Modern Amazon, New Museum, New York, NY,2000.
- Collections Show, William Benton Museum of Art, Storrs, CT, 2000.
- Fabricated Memories, (solo) Project Row Houses, Houston, TX, 2000.
- Eye of the Beholder, DC Public Library, Washington, D.C,. 2000.
- The Comforts of Home, Hand Workshop Art Center, Richmond, VA, 1999.
- Black Women in the Academy, Howard University, Washington, DC, 1999.
- Re/Righting History: Counternarratives by Contemporary African-American Artists, Katonah Museum of Art,1999.
- Memorable Histories and Historic Memories, by Alison Ferris, Bowdoin College Museum of Art, 1998.
- Alternatives '98, Ohio State University, Athens, February, 1998.
- Patchwork, Islip Museum, NY December, 1997-January1998.
- Eye of the Beholder: Photographers from the Avon Collection, International Center of Photography, 1997.
- Family Stories, Hartwick College, Oneonta, NY, 1997.
- Labor of Love, Chastain Gallery, Atlanta, GA, 1996.
- Artists at Work, Smithsonian Institution, Washington,DC, 1996.
- Visual Griots, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, 1996.
- Aspects of African American Art, Walsh Gallery, Seton Hall University, New Jersey, 1996.
- Deborah Willis: Photo/Quilt Stories, Texas Woman's University, Denton, TX 1996.
- Deborah Willis: Family Matter, Steinbaum – Krauss Gallery, New York, NY, Nov/Dec. 1995.
- Cultural Baggage, Rice University, Houston, Texas, 1995.
- Searching for Memories: Black Women and the 1895 Exposition, Atlanta Arts Festival, Atlanta, GA, 1995.
- Photo Stories, Spelman College, Atlanta, GA, 1995.
- Hand Me Down: Innovation Within A Tradition, The Afro-American Cultural Center, Charlotte, NC, touring1995.
- Conceptual Textiles, John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI, 1995-96.
- Encounters 6: Deborah Willis, Center for Creative Photography, Tucson, AZ, 1994.
- Thru the Eyes of Sisters, CRT Craftery Gallery, Hartford, CT, 1994.
- Personal Narrative: Women Photographers of Color, Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem, NC, 1993-95. (tour USIA).
- A Common Thread: Innovations & Improvisations in Contemporary Textiles, Bomani Gallery, San Francisco, CA, 1993.
- Prisoners of War: In My Native Land and On Foreign Soil, The New School Gallery, New York, NY, 1992.
- Words and Pictures, The Light Factory, Charlotte, NC, 1992.
- Deborah Willis/Christian Walker, Jane Jackson Gallery, Atlanta, GA, 1992.
- Occupation and Resistance, Alternative Museum, New York, NY. 1990.
- Coast to Coast: Women of Color Book Project, New York, NY,1988-91.
- Group Show, Borough President's Gallery, New York, NY,1989.
- Visual Diaries, John Jay College Wall Gallery, New York NY, 1989.
- Women Photographers, Nexus Contemporary Art Center, Atlanta, GA, 1988.
- Reflections of Self: Women Photographers, Fordham University, New York, NY, l986.
- Autobiography: Herstory, Castillo Gallery, New York, NY, l986.
- Women on the Scene, Brockman Gallery, Los Angeles, CA. l98l.
Professional Experience:
Teaching:
- University Professor, New York University
- 2006 to present Chair of the Photography and Imaging Dept, Tisch School of the Arts, New York Universtiy
- 2001 – present -New York University, Tisch School of the Arts, Professor of Photography and Imaging, affiliated faculty member in Africana Studies
- 2006 – Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, Visiting Prof, African American Studies –(Seminar: Body and the Lens)
- 2003- Princeton University, Princeton, N.J. Visiting Prof. African American Studies and Art History (Seminar: Beauty Matters)
- 2000-2001 - Duke University and University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Lehman Brady Professor in Documentary Studies and American Studies, Durham, N.C. (Visualizing Culture)
- 2000 - Maryland Institute, College of Art, Baltimore, MD (Art Matters)
Education:
- George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, - Cultural Studies Ph.D.
- City College of New York, Art History Department, New York, NY, - M.A. Art History and Museum Studies.
- Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, N. Y., M.F.A. Photography.
- Philadelphia College of Art, Philadelphia, PA. -B.F.A. Photography.
Awards, Fellowships Funded Proposals:
- Amistad’s President Award, Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, CT 2011
- Aljira Art Award, Newark, NJ, 2011
- Harvard University, DuBois Fellow 2010
- New York University Humanities Institute, 2010
- Society for Photographic Education, Honored Educator, 2010
- Honarary Doctorate, Pratt Institute, 2007
- John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellow, 2005
- Alphonse Fletcher, Jr. Fellowship, 2005
- National Endowment for the Humanities, Planning Grant for Documentary Film, “Reflections in Black” 2003
- Honorary Doctorate, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD. 2003
- James VanDerZee Award, Brandywine Printmaking Workshop, Phila., PA 2002
- Exposure Group’s John H. Johnson Award for Lifetime Achievement in Photography, Washington, DC, 2002
- The 2001 Missouri Honor Medal, University of Missouri School of Journalism.
- The Studio Museum in Harlem Award for Achievement in Scholarship, 2001
- The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellow, 2000.
- Anonymous Was A Woman Foundation, 1996.
- The International Center of Photography Infinity Award for Writing in Photography, 1995.
Visiting Artist
- 2009-12 University of Washington, Henry Art Gallery, Seattle
- 2008 – University of Oregon, Eugene
- 2008 – Visiting Artist, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence.
- 2002 – The School of the Chicago Art Institute, Chicago, Ill.
Museum/Curatorial
- Independent Curator
- 1992 -2000: Associate Director for Research and Collections, Exhibitions Curator, Smithsonian Institution, Center for African American History & Culture, Washington, DC
- 1980-1992: Curator, Photographs and Prints, The New York Public Library, Schomburg Center Research in Black Culture, New York.
Publications: Books
Black Venus 2010: They Called Her Hottentot, editor, Temple University Press 2010.
Michelle Obama: The First Lady in Photographs, W .W. Norton & Co, 2009
Posing Beauty in African American Images from the 1890’s to the Present,
WW Norton & Co, 2009
Obama: The Historic Campaign in Photographs, Amistad/HarperCollins, 2008
Let Your Motto be Resistance-African American Portraits, Smithsonian National African American Museum, Washington. DC 2008
Family History Memory: Photographs by Deborah Willis Hylas Publishing (2005)
Black: A Celebration of a Culture, Hylas Publishing, 2004 (author)
A Small Nation of People: W. E.B. DuBois & African American Portraits of Progress, The Library of Congress and Amistad Press, 2003 (co-author with David Levering Lewis)
The Black Female Body in Photography, co-author, Carla Williams Temple University Press, 2002.
Reflections in Black: A History of Black Photographers-1840 to the present, New York: W. W. Norton, 2000
The Family of Black America, co-author, Michael Cottman, Crown Publishers, New York, NY, 1996
Visual Journal: Photography in Harlem and DC in the Thirties and Forties, co-editor, Jane Lusaka, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC, 1996.
Picturing Us: African American Identity in Photography, The New Press, New York, NY, 1994.
VANDERZEE: The Portraits of James VanDerZee, Harry Abrams Publishing, New York, NY, 1993.
J.P. Ball, Daguerreotypist and Studio Photographer, Garland Publishing, Inc, New York, NY, 1993.
Lorna Simpson, Untitled Series 54, Friends of Photography, San Francisco, 1992.
Early Black Photographers, postcard book, The New Press, New York, 1992.
Black Photographers 1840-1940: An Illustrated Bio-Bibliography, Garland Publishing, Inc., New York,NY, 1985.
Black Photographers l940-l988: An Illustrated Bio-Bibliography, Garland Publishing, Inc., New York, NY, l988.
Projects: Books In Progress
Question Bridge, 2010 to present
TALD “Reflections in Black: A Four Part Documentary”, 2005 to present.
Professional Affiliations:
- Board Member, College Art Association (1994-1997)
- Executive Committee, College Art Association (1994-1996)
- Board Member, Society for Photographic Education (1986-1996)
- Chair, Board of Society for Photographic Education (1994-96)
- Women Caucus for the Arts
- American Association of Museums
- ORACLE
- College Art Association
- American Studies Association
- Society for Photographic Education
Collections
Benton Museum of Art, University of Connecticut, Storrs
Avon Collection, New York
University of Alabama, Birmingham
Center for Creative Photography, Arizona
Light Works, Syracuse, New York
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California
Center for Creative Photography, Duke University, North Carolina
Private Collections