Lyle Ashton Harris is both a photographer and a multimedia artist. His exhibition, entitled "Blow Up" is at the UB North Art Gallery, located in the Center for the Arts. Once you enter the main building (distinguishable by a large glass triangle on top of the entrance), you will find that the gallery itself is located on your immediate left, behind a glass door with the gallery's hours in white letters (and the word "Thursday" spelled "Thrursday"...). There is a small information desk on your left, but directly in front of you is the first part of the exhibition.
While some of Harris' photography is traditional (mostly the work located on his website, not so much what was shown in "Blow Up"), this first collection of photos, entitled "Billie," really explains what Harris is all about. In the same vein as Cindy Sherman, Harris will disguise himself as different people (sometimes celebrities, sometimes not) and then take photographs of himself in various poses and stages. "Billie," combined with the next group of photos, entitled "American Triptych," shows some of the issues that Harris himself wants to confront; that is, sexuality, dressing in drag, racism, and the like. As you enter into the next gallery, this theme of searching for one's identity continues in several other pieces, and we see Harris dressed up and portrayed as many different people from all walks of life.
I'm unsure whether the small plaques beside many of the works were written by the gallery or by Harris' own camp, but they were very helpful in explaining the artist's thoughts behind specific works. Not all of Harris' photos are of himself - there is a collection on the first floor that is a cycle of photographs from an Italian football (soccer) game. Originally (and I know this thanks to one of the aforementioned plaques), Harris wanted to concentrate on the issue of racism in the sport, but after he arrived, he was swept up with the energy of the crowds of fans watching the match. He instead turned the focus of his work onto the frenetic crowd. My favorite piece from this cycle was untitled, but featured a monochromatic photo of an Italian crowd. What was interesting about the piece was that it was done in red, and Harris had "mirror-imaged" the photo several times so it was four times as big as it had originally been.
Several years ago the artist took a trip to Ghana, and many of his more recent pieces are a direct result from this visit. In the light-well of the gallery there are two photographs draped with Ghanian funerary textiles, and the motifs on these textiles are repeated in the gallery on the second floor. In the collection entitled "Accra My Love," one entire wall is a montage of different collectibles and photographs from Ghana, including a tourist map. Collections of oversized pillows litter the floor, and are covered in the same types of Ghanian funeral textiles. Instead of the video installation catching my eye, I was drawn to a large blanket that Harris covered in oil paintings. There were many different styles and motifs, but the one that I found most interesting was a small square where Harris replicated Manet's "Olympia." It was an intriguing addition to an already eclectic exhibition.
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