America in Crisis will feature approximately 120 images by 40 notable American photographers that explore societal transformation in the United States from the 1960s to the present. The exhibition is coordinated by Sophie Wright, Gregory Harris of Atlanta’s High Museum of Art, and Tara Pixley, a photographer and scholar residing in Los Angeles.
America in Crisis was a groundbreaking group endeavour that began in 1969 with the goal of assessing the state of the country. American photographer Charles Harbutt and Lee Jones, Magnum’s New York bureau head at the time, led this Magnum Photos project. This group project investigated major events in 1968 leading up to Nixon’s inauguration, casting a critical eye on the United States during a period of great social, political, and cultural change. The exhibition at Saatchi Gallery in 2022 will create a relationship between the original historical pictures from the Magnum project in 1969 and new works created five decades later by a variety of contemporary practitioners during another tumultuous period in American history.
By revisiting and updating this exhibition, a unique dialogue emerges between the work of leading photographers from 1968, such as Bruce Davidson, Elliott Erwitt, and Mary Ellen Mark, and the work of contemporary photographers from 2020, including Kris Graves, Balazs Gardi, Zora J Murff, Sheila Pree Bright, and Stacy Kranitz. The show juxtaposes the notion of American exceptionalism with the reality of current events, highlighting themes from both eras.
Original America in Crisis project included an experimental video and installation in addition to an exhibition and publication. The 2022 show will contain an immersive and interactive installation that speaks to contemporary image consumption, in keeping with the interactive presentation of the original project.
