Exhibition and Public Lecture by Pierre Gonnord: Portraying the South
Where: SCAD Gallery See, 1600 Peachtree Street NW, Atlanta, GA 30309
When: October 8 - November 16, 2012, 8:30 AM - 5:30 PM | Monday - Friday
Public Lecture
Where: SCAD Gallery See, 1600 Peachtree Street NW, Atlanta, GA 30309
When: November 7, 2012 at 6:00 p.m., reception immediately following
Internationally acclaimed French photographer Pierre Gonnord, upon invitation from France-Atlanta and SCAD, came to the U.S. for a three-month residency from February-May 2012 to prepare a work on the American Southeast on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the death of writer William Faulkner.
Welcomed by SCAD (Atlanta, GA), the Alabama School of Fine Arts and Space One Eleven (Birmingham, AL), and the Hale Empowerment & Revitalization Organization Inc., (Greensboro, AL), his exploration of the region led the artist to homeless shelters, churches, poor and wealthy neighborhoods, important stomping grounds of the Civil Rights Movement, and on into the more rural communities and habitations little known and hardly remembered . Together, these encounters offered a glimpse into the soul of the Deep South—which blends so well past and present, wild and cultivated. The result of this work on the faces, open spaces, and landscape of the American Southeast, is an astonishing, thoughtful and poignant photography exhibition unique to this region.
Pierre Gonnord’s exhibition, Portraying the Southwill be on display from October 8-November 16 at SCAD as part of of Atlanta Celebrates Photography 2012 before setting off on a world tour. On November 7, the artist will be present for a public lecture and reception.
Timeless, unclassifiable, explosive, beyond borders—such are the works of photographer Pierre Gonnord. His work represents specific social realities of the human condition. From the ostracized gypsy communities of Europe to the social outcasts of Japan to the rural communities of the Balkans, Andalucia, or Portugal—Pierre Gonnord takes an active stance of “rebellion against oblivion” by highlighting the marginalized, and therefore, another concept of beauty.
photo credit (above): Pierre Gonnord: Hattie. 2012
Biography 
Pierre Gonnord was born in France in 1963. A self-taught photographer, he has been living and working in Madrid since 1988. He has presented several solo exhibitions at prestigious institutions including the Maison Europeene de la Photographie (Paris 2005), Case Asia (Barcelona 2006), the Museo de Bellas Artes de Sevilla (2006), El Museo de Bellas Artes de Santander (2007), the Centre of Photography / University of Salamanca (2008). In 2005-2006, Gonnord was invited to be a resident at the Cité des Arts in Paris. He was awarded with the prizes L´Oreal Photography Award, Madrid (2003), Purificación García Award, 3rd place, Circulo de Bellas Artes, Madrid (2004). His works are present in the collections of University Salamanca, Spain, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, USA, Maison Europeenne de la Photographie, Paris and many others.
With the support of: