E-Photo
Issue #236  10/25/2017
 
When War Begets Art: A Curator's Tale in the New York Times

By Alex Novak

Aftermath exhibit at the Harn Museum of Art (Photo Courtesy of the Harn)
Aftermath exhibit at the Harn Museum of Art (Photo Courtesy of the Harn)

Every once in a while I have the pleasure of noting the accomplishment of a friend. In next Sunday's New York Times (Oct. 28,2017), Carol McCusker, who is Curator of Photography for the Harn Museum of Art, University of Florida, received some great and well-deserved coverage for her work and her recent show, "Aftermath: The Fallout of War — America and the Middle East" (now traveling to other venues).

As she said in the NYT story, “We are not antiwar. But there is a generation of people who look to war to solve problems. We want to show what war does. I have always been interested in history, and I believe in using photography to address contemporary issues. More and more of our exhibits are of the moment."

To see the entire story, either pick up a Sunday New York Times, or go here to the online version, which might not hurt your back as much and will save a few trees: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/22/arts/museums-middle-east-war-photographs.html.

The show is currently at The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota until January 21, 2018.

I should note that Carol worked with me for a while as my associate, and, while having nothing to do with her success as a curator, I am rather proud of the work she does now.

Novak has over 47 years experience in the photography-collecting arena. He is a long-time member and formally board member of the Daguerreian Society, and, when it was still functioning, he was a member of the American Photographic Historical Society (APHS). He organized the 2016 19th-century Photography Show and Conference for the Daguerreian Society. He is also a long-time member of the Association of International Photography Art Dealers, or AIPAD. Novak has been a member of the board of the nonprofit Photo Review, which publishes both the Photo Review and the Photograph Collector, and is currently on the Photo Review's advisory board. He was a founding member of the Getty Museum Photography Council. He is author of French 19th-Century Master Photographers: Life into Art.

Novak has had photography articles and columns published in several newspapers, the American Photographic Historical Society newsletter, the Photograph Collector and the Daguerreian Society newsletter. He writes and publishes the E-Photo Newsletter, the largest circulation newsletter in the field. Novak is also president and owner of Contemporary Works/Vintage Works, a private photography dealer, which sells by appointment and has sold at exhibit shows, such as AIPAD New York and Miami, Art Chicago, Classic Photography LA, Photo LA, Paris Photo, The 19th-century Photography Show, Art Miami, etc.