Description:
Black and white landscape photograph of and expansive field with grasses and wild flowers that extends across the entire view. A church and it's steeple is sits at the center on the distant horizon below a cloudy sky.
Label Text:
Excerpted label text from the Curatorial Fellowship exhibition “Eyes Are For Asking: Narratives in Photography,” March 24 – May 1, 2016:
This apparently peaceful photograph depicts the location of the Wounded Knee Massacre of 1890. Although peaceful at first glance, this idyllic landscape is disturbed by the recollection of its grim history. The expanse of the empty fields echo a sense of absence and gloom. The overcast sky further emphasizes this ominous feeling. The church sits still and small atop a hill, like a tombstone on a burial mound – a solemn reminder of a past in need of redemption. -Gretchen Halverson (M.A. Art History ‘16) and Procheta Mukherjee Olson (M.F.A. Studio Art ‘17)
2013 Curatorial Fellowship Exhibition: Shaping the View
A seemingly innocent picture such as Elliott Erwitt’s Church at Wounded Knee (1969) is much more charged than the flowered landscape and small white church in the distance. Set on the Wounded Knee battlefield, this scene speaks to the solemn memory of the Wounded Knee Massacre of 1890. Although peaceful at first glance, the knowledge of the grim event disturbs our perception of the idyllic landscape. The foreboding sky, which seems to encroach upon the setting, creates an ominous feeling even if the viewer is unaware of the historical context of the site of Wounded Knee. Standing on top of the hill, the white church draws the viewer in, inviting quiet contemplation. - Claire D’Amato and Sarah Horowitz
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=UM+1982.28.1 |
