'Talking Back' highlights message and medium
The photographic exhibit "Talking Back: An Exhibition of T-Shirt Messages and The Bodies Who Wear Them" takes the thoughtful messages on T-shirts and turns them into art, as well as political statement.
Located in 21c Museum Hotel, which specializes in works by live artists, the photographic series celebrates street culture communication and the T-shirt's power to convey essential passions. Each of the photographs tells as much about the wearer as about the message, through the bare portrait present no additional information.
The exhibit by photographer Leslie Lyons, freshly arrived from a show at the Art Directors Club in New York City, leads back to the River City. Lyons put up flyers and bought ads in Louisville, New York City, New Orleans; Austin, Texas; and Los Angeles seeking everyday people who wore their messages on their sleeves — well, chests actually. The message on the flyer read: "Bring your chest and message."
Lyons ended up with hundreds of T-shirt-clad subjects, which she photographed on 4-by-5 Polaroid. Twenty of these portraits were enlarged into life-size 30×40 digital C-prints. These are on display in 21c's Gallery 3, just off the atrium, along with 100 original Polaroids. Lyon snapped the Louisville photographs at 21c on Sept. 24 as part of Idea Festival 2009.
- by Ivonne Rovira, Louisville Reporter for HelloMetro
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Ivonne RoviraA graduate of the prestigious Columbia University School of Journalism in New York City, Ivonne Rovira worked as a reporter for the Miami News, The Miami Herald and The Associated Press. She has written articles for The National Catholic Reporter and The Courier-Journal. For more than 15 years, Ivonne wrote and edited articles aimed at middle-school children.
