Willie Anne Wright: Artist and Alchemist

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Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Arthur and Margaret Glasgow Endowment

Willie at Ruth’s Farm (detail), 1984, Willie Anne Wright (American, born 1924), silver dye bleach print.

Celebrate this groundbreaking, internationally renowned photographer and painter whose remarkable Richmond-based career spans over six decades. Presenting 63 photographs and 9 paintings by the Richmond native, born in 1924, this is the first major exhibition to explore the trajectory of her impressive 60-year career. From playful and irreverent scenes of everyday life to ethereal evocations of the past, Willie Anne Wright’s experimental paintings and photographs examine pop-culture, feminine identity, the pull of history and the shifting cultural landscape of the South. With a focus on photography’s role in shaping collective understandings of history, place, and gender, the exhibition draws from VMFA’s recent acquisition of Wright’s work, including more than 230 photographs and 10 paintings, as well as a comprehensive artist archive.

Organized by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and curated by Dr. Sarah Kennel, Aaron Siskind Curator of Photography and Director of the Raysor Center.