Dawoud Bey

Dawoud Bey was born in 1953, in Queens, New York. He graduated with a BFA in Photography from Empire State College in 1990, and completed his Masters Degree at Yale University School of Art in 1993. Working at first in a documentary style in the 1970s, since the 1980s Bey has experimented with many innovative approaches. His work tends to focus on the depictions and stories of African American and other marginalized populations. A particularly noteworthy exploration in the early 1990s was his multi-panel portraits taken with a n exceedingly rare Polaroid 20 x 24 inch Land Camera1. This technique yields stunning detail while also asking that the viewer consciously engage with the artwork to unify the spaces and times depicted in each panel. Bey has had numerous exhibitions throughout the USA and internationally, including the Art Institute of Chicago, the National Portrait Gallery in London, the Museum of Contemporary Photography (Chicago), Cleveland Museum of Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art. In 1995, a mid-career retrospective organized by the Walker Art Center traveled to institutions throughout the United States and Europe.