An-My Lê (b. 1960), Untitled, Hanoi, 1995, gelatin silver print, An-My Lê. Courtesy of the artist and Marian Goodman Gallery, New York, Paris and London

The Amon Carter Museum of American Art (the Carter) will present  the first comprehensive survey of the work of Vietnamese-American photographer An-My Lê (b.  1960), on view April 18 through August 8, 2021. Featuring more than 70 photographs from a  selection of the artist’s five major bodies of work, the nationally touring An-My Lê: On Contested  Terrain draws connections across Lê’s career and provides unprecedented insight into her subtle,  evocative images that draw on the classical landscape tradition to explore the complexity of  American history and conflict. 

Celebrated photographer Lê has spent nearly 25 years exploring the edges of war and recording these  landscapes of conflict in beautiful, classically composed photographs. Born in Saigon in the midst of  the Vietnam War, Lê vividly remembers the sights, sounds, and smells of growing up in a warzone.  She and her family were eventually evacuated by the US military in 1975. It would take another 20  years for Lê to return to her homeland, this time with a large-format camera in tow. 

“We are proud to bring An-My Lê: On Contested Terrain to our North Texas community,” said Andrew J. Walker, Executive Director. “Lê’s photographs bring history into conversation with the  present, confronting head-on, complicated questions that remain relevant today. It feels especially  important that we are spotlighting her work during our anniversary year, as it draws on the  traditions reflected in our historical photography collection and underlines our 60-year commitment  to exhibiting the best American photographers at the Carter.” 

Lê follows in the tradition of nineteenth-century photographers like Timothy O’Sullivan and Mathew  Brady, whose images of the Civil War brought the realities of combat to everyday Americans. Crafting sweeping views that emphasize the size and breadth of the theater of war, Lê captures the  complexity of conflict and the full scope of military life, avoiding the sensationalism often seen in  newspapers and movies. On Contested Terrain highlights the artist’s technical strengths, used to 

compose beautiful images that draw the viewer into deeper consideration of complex themes of  history and power. 

The exhibition presents selections from five of Lê’s major series: 

  • Viêt Nam (1994–98) 
    Almost 20 years after her family was evacuated, Lê returned to Vietnam with her large format camera. The resulting series is a meditation on her homeland, addressing both her  memories of it and the country’s reality decades later. It depicts the landscape as a backdrop  for human history, a theme Lê would return to again and again.  
  • Small Wars (1999–2002) 
    Back in the United States, Lê photographed Vietnam War reenactors in North Carolina and  Virginia, often participating as a North Vietnamese soldier or Viet Cong rebel. Working with  the reenactors, many of whom had not fought in the war, to achieve “authenticity” whenever possible, Lê made images that explore the legacy and mythology of the Vietnam War for  contemporary Americans.  
  • 29 Palms (2003–04)  
    Unable to secure credentials to embed on the front lines of the Iraq War, Lê traveled to a  California military base to photograph troops training in a landscape similar to the  environment in which they would soon be deployed. In addition to the desert training  exercises, Lê photographed the debriefings and downtime that filled the soldiers’ days.
  • Events Ashore (2005–14) 
    This series, the artist’s first foray into color photography, was created over nine years that Lê  spent photographing the crews of U.S. naval vessels around the world. An extensive  exploration of the global reach of the American military, Events Ashore includes scenes of  everyday life on an aircraft carrier alongside diplomatic, humanitarian, military, and political  activities.  
  • Silent General (2015–ongoing) 
    In her current series, Lê grapples with the legacy of America’s Civil War and responds to the  complexities of the current socio-political moment. Her poetic photographs of polarized  landscapes confront issues of our time that are rooted in our history, from the fate of Confederate monuments to immigration debates around agricultural laborers.  

“An-My Lê has spent decades investigating conflicted terrains, both physical and metaphorical” stated Kristen Gaylord, Assistant Curator of Photographs. “Her photographs consider questions that  we are all thinking about now: What does it mean to be an American citizen? How does our country’s  history shape our contemporary lives? What should be the role of the U.S. in the world? These  questions are especially salient for the City of Fort Worth, which includes a major defense contractor,  the first Joint Reserve Base in the country, and residents and refugees from around the world,  including Vietnam, Somalia, Guatemala, and Afghanistan. The generosity and incisiveness of Lê’s  vision are a model for how we can navigate these complexities together.” 

An-My Lê: On Contested Terrain is organized by the Carnegie Museum of Art. Major support for  this exhibition is provided by Lannan Foundation and the William Talbott Hillman Foundation.  Additional support is generously provided by the Virginia Kaufman Fund, the Henry John Simonds  Foundation, the Phillip and Edith Leonian Foundation, the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter  Foundation, Jennifer and Karl Salatka, and the Virginia S. Warner Foundation. Generous support for  the exhibition catalogue has been provided by Marian Goodman Gallery. The Carter’s presentation of  On Contested Terrain is generously supported by Lannan Foundation.  

The exhibition debuted at Carnegie Museum of Art in March 2020. Following the presentation at the  Carter, the exhibition will travel to the Milwaukee Art Museum in fall 2021. An-My Lê: On Contested  Terrain is included in the museum’s free admission. The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue featuring many images never-before published.

A press release comes straight from a news source. It is not held to the same standards as a news story reported and written by a professional reporter, but it should be factual. The Fort Worth Report...

Leave a comment