Jessie Mann "Self Possessed"

Photographs by Len Prince

January 13th – February 24th, 2007

Adamson Gallery presents "Self Possessed", a new collaboration between photographer Len Prince and Jessie Mann. In Prince and Mann’s words, the project "honors, as active agent the muses and numerous subjects that have given themselves over to this fictional realm of human consciousness."

As the photographer, Len Prince is both instigator and accomplice. The "Self Possessed" series has a dual function as both portraiture and commentary. Although it is Mann who is posing for the works, in some ways she is merely an interpretation of her characters. In most of the works, Mann as the conscious subject gazes directly at the camera, as if fulfilling expectations of her character and willfully engaging her viewer.

As the daughter and often-controversial subject of photographer Sally Mann, Jessie Mann has spent a lifetime before the camera. In this project, Mann is simultaneously artist and subject; taking control of her own representation. Indeed, Mann is able to play with her own identity, appearing in costume as an odalisque, a nurse, a bombshell, or the Venus de Milo. In using these allusions, Mann is commenting on identity, both individual and cultural. As an artist she sets the rules, as subject, she breaks them. Mann is in dialogue not only with the photographer, but with her references, her audience, and herself.

Mann is a fascinating and dynamic subject. Prince’s images capture her fluidity and transform her caricatures into striking and compelling portraits. The stunning black and white gelatin silver prints are almost painterly in their attention to light and shadow. Mann and Prince’s collaboration makes "Self Possessed" a unique collection of work that makes important statements about the genre of portraiture and the role of the subject within.

Jessie Mann and Len Prince met in 2001 and have been working together since that time. Their collaboration was featured in New Yorker, ArtNews, and American Photographer magazines. Prince and Mann have shown at Danziger Projects in New York.

For further information please contact Laurie Adamson or Erin Boland at (202) 232-0707 or gallery@adamsongallery.com

ADAMSON GALLERY
1515 fourteenth street nw
washington dc 20006
202.232.0707
ADAMSON GALLERY
1515 fourteenth street nw
washington dc 20006
202.232.0707

hours of operation:
tuesday - saturday
10 am - 6 pm
erin@adamsongallery.com
www.adamsongallery.com