The King is Dead: Photographs by Barron Claiborne

Opening Reception will be on Friday, April 13th, from 6 to 8pm.

Gallery is located at 11 West 27th Street (between Madison and 5th Avenue).

Remy Toledo Art Projects in collaboration with The Prince George Ballroom gallery is pleased to present "The King is Dead: Photographs by Barron Claiborne". The show will exhibit from April 13th to May 4th.

"The King is Dead" embraces female identity and their representation, and especially encounters the origins of African American cultural identity. Barron Claiborne has brought to life characters that seem to be outside real place and time.

The exhibition is composed of multiple series all portraying women characterized as saints, assassins and other various fictional identities. The figures within each photograph are set in front of an elaborate background and are themselves staged and subject to the artists´ handling of identity and empowerment.

In the ¨Sacred Series¨ the artist reflects on the formal composition and spirituality of ancient Christian Icons from Namibia and Carthage. The models are portrayed as sacred female figures as they are costumed with insignia and set within a haloed background emulating the representation of ancient goddesses. Individuality and strength emanates from their eyes, challenging the viewer's gaze from that of submission and subjection to empowerment and self-possession. The models become religious icons through staged props while simultaneously expressing their selfhood and individuality.

In the ¨Assassins Series¨, figures are disposed of purity and goodness and are portrayed as dangerous and violent through the use of weapons and costumes. Again the models here are subject to the artist's staging but maintain their individuality through facial gestures and their gaze.

Beneath the masks, hats, veils, crosses, guns, halos, dresses, and patterns, it is ultimately the female figure that emerges over the masquerade. It is their identity who brings Claiborne's characters to life. The artist consciously exposes this duality of fictionalizing and revealing through intimate close ups of those who have performed for us as "Saints" or "Assassins".

Barron Claiborne has been shooting photographs for more than 25 years. A self-taught photographer raised in Boston, he moved to New York in 1990, where he has developed his career within fashion and fine art photography. His works have been published in Newsweek, C-Photo Magazine, The New York Times Magazine and The Rolling Stone among others. His works are included in the collections of the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts in Texas and the Polaroid Museum in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

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Hours of operation are Monday thru Friday from 11 am to 6pm.

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About Remy Toledo Art Projects

Remy Toledo is a space for contemporary art projects. Instead of a traditional single location gallery space, New York becomes an exhibition ground for the gallery's experimental work, encouraging its visitors to constantly explore, discover, and experience the city itself as a gallery. For more information please visit our website www.remytoledo.com