THE PHOTOGRAPHY SHOW PRESENTED BY AIPAD

MARCH 31- APRIL 2, 2023

Booth 231

Japan’s premier contemporary arts magazine BT (Bijutsu Techo) highlights our presentation of Mikael Levin’s Critical Places: Sites of American Slave Rebellion at the Photography Show presented by AIPAD.

Translated text below:

"Mikael Levin, in his series "Critical Places" (2019-), has been investigating the history of places within the United States where slave rebellions occurred and continues to capture their present state in landscape photographs. "There have been over 300 rebellions by slaves in the past, but only about 10 of them are widely known, and there are very few opportunities to talk about the others, and the records left are very limited," says Levin. This series focuses on places with such "forgotten history," and 12 locations have been covered so far. It is composed of a text based on information obtained from researches and interviews conducted by the artist, like a reportage, and multiple monochrome photographs.

Among the rebellions, there are those that actually occurred, as well as those suspected of being fabricated for the purpose of reinforcing control over slaves. The contrast between seemingly ordinary landscapes such as highways, gas stations, farms, etc., and the history in the background, highlights the selective aspects of America's historical view. It is also a work that resonates with the trend of reevaluating history from the perspective of minorities."