Group Portrait

April 5 – June 15, 2003

As part of the artist residency Dawoud Bey: The Chicago Project, the twelve Chicago teenage participants curated this exhibition, featuring photographic portraits from the Smart Museum's collection as well as works on loan from a private collection. 

In a series of discussions, hands-on activities, and meetings with Dawoud Bey and Museum staff, the teenagers explored ideas about identity and representation. In an unusual installation including graffiti on the walls, the students responded to the residency topics and to the photographs that they selected by Dieter Appelt, Morrie Camhi, Robert Doisneau, Walker Evans, Susan Fenton, Laura Letinsky, Helen Levitt, Danny Lyon, Sally Mann, Adrian Piper, Man Ray, Ben Shahn, David Teplica, James Van Der Zee, and Francesca Woodman.