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Zun Lee: Fade Resistance
An Exhibition of Found Polaroids
Curated by Zun Lee and Kenneth Montague
Gladstone Hotel, Toronto
February 1-28, 2016
Wedge Curatorial Projects will be presenting Zun Lee: Fade Resistance at the Gladstone Hotel from February 1-28, 2016 – part of TD’s Then and Now Black History Month series.
Fade Resistance is an archival project that seeks to restore the narrative impact of thousands of found African American vernacular Polaroid photographs. Over the past three years, artist Zun Lee has gathered a still-growing collection of over 3,000 Polaroid snapshots of African American families from the 1970s to the early 2000s. As a product of their time, they are at once specific to their socio-cultural context and descriptive of universal everyday life moments. The images exhibit the richness and complexity of the lives depicted and fill a representational gap in the history of snapshot photography.
Issues regarding the lack of depth and breadth in the visual representation of African Americans continue to persist. Through this project, Lee’s aim is to contribute to this conversation by highlighting the importance of quotidian black life as exemplified by an under-examined aspect of visual history: family photos. In her essay “In Our Glory: Photography and Black Life,” bell hooks describes the pivotal role of vernacular snapshots as “sites of resistance” against stereotypical depictions of African Americans. The instant film camera put the narrative power squarely into the hands of the very families depicted. Everyday moments could be captured and shared without delay or interference, reflecting how black people saw themselves without considering an external gaze.
Fade Resistance offers a contemporary counter-narrative to mainstream distortion and erasure. By showing how black families documented themselves throughout recent decades, this exhibition aims to spark meaningful conversation around issues of agency and empowerment in the depiction of the black community.
Opening Friday February 5, 7 – 10pm.
Artist will be present.
Launch Party Friday February 5, from 10pm.
Featuring a DJ set by Rollie Pemberton (aka Cadence Weapon)
Event is free admission.
Zun Lee is an award-winning Canadian photographer, physician and educator. He was born and raised in Germany and has lived in Atlanta, Philadelphia and Chicago. He currently resides in Toronto. Lee’s interest in the representation of Black life has been the foundation of his practice as exemplified through his recent projects Father Figure (2013) and Fade Resistance, which have received international acclaim.
Lee has shown his work in solo and group exhibits in New York City, Washington DC, Toronto, Paris, Perpignan, Orlando and Los Angeles and his work has been featured in numerous international publications. Selected honours and awards include: Magnum Foundation Fellow (2015), Photo District News Photo Annual Winner (2015), and Paris Photo/Aperture Photobook Awards Shortlist (2014).
Wedge Curatorial Projects is a non-profit organization that promotes alternative perspectives on community and culture, and explores the African presence in contemporary art. Under the directorship of founder Kenneth Montague, since 1997 Wedge has worked with local and international organizations to create original exhibitions, collaborated with guest artists and curators, hosted lectures and educational programs, published books, and produced film and music series that speak to youth about shaping their own identity.
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