Image: Arielle Bobb-Willis, New Orleans 01, 2021. © Arielle Bobb-Willis

Photographers Arielle Bobb-Willis, Djeneba Aduayom and Bradley Ogbonna reflect on their newly commissioned work on view at ICP as part of Inward: Reflections on Interiority. The artists will be joined in conversation by ICP Curator-at-Large, Isolde Brielmaier.

Register for Part I of the program Inward Conversations to hear from Quil Lemons and Isaac West, on October 7, 2021.

About the Exhibition

INWARD: Reflections on Interiority features newly commissioned work by five emerging artists—Djeneba Aduayom, Arielle Bobb-Willis, Quil Lemons, Brad Ogbonna, and Isaac West—who experiment with and explore aspects of their interior lives. Their work moves beyond the endless scope of the constructed selfie and documentation of events in the public realm to examine the intimate interactions and thoughts that make up their daily experiences as artists and people in a time of unprecedented change. The exhibition is curated by Isolde Brielmaier, PhD, Curator-at-Large at ICP.

Reserve your timed entry tickets online to plan your visit.

About the Program Format

This program will take place on Zoom. Those who register to attend will receive a confirmation email with a link located at the bottom of the email under ‘Important Information’ to join through a computer or mobile device.

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Speaker Bio

Born and raised in New York City, with pit stops in South Carolina and New Orleans, photographer Arielle Bobb-Willis (b. 1994) has been using the camera for nearly a decade as a tool of empowerment. Battling depression from an early age, Bobb-Willis found solace behind the lens and has developed a visual language that speaks to the complexities of life: the beautiful, the strange, belonging, isolation, and connection. Inspired by masters like Jacob Lawrence and Benny Andrews, Bobb-Willis applies a “painterly” touch to her photography by documenting people in compromising and disjointed positions as way to highlight these complexities. Her photographs are all captured in urban and rural cities, from the South to North, East to West. Bobb-Willis travels throughout the U.S. as a way of finding “home” in any grassy knoll, or city sidewalk, reminding us to stay connected and grounded during life’s transitional moments.

Informed by her career as a professional dancer, Djeneba Aduayom progressed into photography and brought her love of travel, movement and emotive performance into her imagery and subsequent directing work. Drawing inspiration from her cultural mix of French, Italian and African heritage, her concepts and artistic expression are rooted in her personal exploration of the inner worlds of her imagination. In 2020, Aduayom received The One Club for Creativity One Show gold award for her conceptual fashion series “A Pas de Deux” in collaboration with New York Magazine’s The Cut. Her portraits for The New York Times Magazine’s “The 1619 Project” were honored by the International Center of Photography’s 2020 Infinity Awards in the Online Platform and New Media category. The American Society of Magazine Editors’ 2020 Awards also selected Aduayom’s Billboard portrait of St. Vincent as "Best Profile Photograph.” Aduayom is now based just outside of Los Angeles, CA.

Brad Ogbonna (b. 1988) was born and raised in Saint Paul, MN, and currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. A first generation Nigerian-American and a self-taught photographer, his work focuses on the black experience: his own, as well as the many different iterations he has seen while traveling domestically and abroad as a member of the diaspora. His work has appeared in publications such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, Forbes, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, and New York magazine, and he frequently collaborates with the artist Kehinde Wiley. In 2019, Ogbonna’s work was featured at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis.

Isolde Brielmaier (@isolde_brielmaier) is Curator-at-Large at the International Center for Photography (ICP) and the newly appointed Deputy Director of the New Museum in NYC. Previously, Isolde served for six years as Executive Director and Curator of Arts, Culture & Community at Westfield World Trade Center, a role in which she developed artist projects and installations, cultural events, strategic and community partnerships across the organization. Isolde is also Professor of Critical Studies in Tisch's Department of Photography, Imaging and Emerging Media at New York University. 

Throughout her curatorial career, Isolde has collaborated with noted contemporary artists including Carrie Mae Weems, Ellen Gallagher, Leonardo Drew, Richard Mosse, Ivan Navarro, Wangechi Mutu, Bill Viola, Hugo McCloud, Fred Wilson, Tyler Mitchell, and Bharti Kher, to name a few. She has written extensively on contemporary art and culture, including several exhibition catalogues, journal articles as well as artist monographs. Her most recent book, Culture as Catalyst was released Fall 2020 and her forthcoming photography book, I am Sparkling, will be released in Spring 2022. 

Isolde has been profiled and featured in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Elle, Vogue, Modern Luxury, New York Magazine’s The Cut, WNYC Radio, CNN, the Washington Post, Galerie Magazine, Cultured, and Whitewall among others. 

Previously, Isolde has worked for the Guggenheim Museum, the Bronx Museum of Art, and as Chief Curator for the SCAD Museum of Art. She is deeply committed to the promotion of social justice and human rights, specifically global women’s issues and criminal justice reform and serves on the board of the Women’s Prison Association (WPA) as well as an advisor to Malaika, an all-girls school in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Isolde holds a PhD from Columbia University and lives in New York City.

Event Price

This program is free with a suggested donation of $5.

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