Joy Gregory: Objects of Beauty (Autograph)

Gregory has been producing "objects of beauty" since the early 1980s. But beneath the surface of her seductive images lies a powerful engagement with the themes of race, gender and identity. The Handbag Project, for instance, features images of 1950s women's purses-beautiful and seemingly innocent. These are items found in Johannesburg junkshops that take on depth and power as symbols of white privilege. Gregory's photos are featured, each previously collected and shown by museums worldwide, with a short essay by Deborah Willis, curator of exhibitions at the Center for African American History and Culture in Washington, DC.