First Black N.B. artist to get show at Beaverbrook says photography has opened many doors
CBC
A Fredericton photographer is expected to make history this spring when his work is shown at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery.
Gary Weekes is slated to have an exhibit at New Brunswick's only officially designated provincial art gallery starting April 2, titled Larry Fink vs Gary Weekes: The Boxing Portfolios.
When it opens, Weekes will become the first Black artist from New Brunswick to have an exhibit at the Beaverbrook.
It will be exciting to set that precedent, Weekes said, but he noted it won't be the first time photography has opened doors for him as a Black man.
"The camera has made a lot of the world an open place for me," he said.
"I would be allowed to sit at the table in a very expensive restaurant and at the same time sit at the table with the homeless, and be accepted in both."
That has given him both "a certain sense of power" and "a very strange way of looking at the world," he said.
Weekes does many different kinds of photography, from commercial portraits to still life, figurative and abstract fine art.
The spring exhibit will feature black-and-white images of athletes from the Fredericton Boxing Club, taken by Weekes as well as by American photographer Larry Fink.
A few of his images can currently be seen at Fredericton's Gallery on Queen, as part of an exhibit for Black History Month called DiasporArt: Self Actualization.
Gallery owner Nadia Khoury noted Weekes had a solo show there last year.
This month, the gallery is also showing works by nine other members of the New Brunswick Black Artists Alliance, she said. They include Rhonda Simmons, Daniel Leek, Karrie Nash, Clyde A. Wray, Saa Andrew Gbongbor, Sydona Chandon, Josh Cooper, Aleya Michaud and Angel Terry.
And on Feb. 11, the gallery plans to host a virtual launch party for a book called AfriCANthology: Perspectives of Black Canadian Poets, by Greg Frankson.
It features a cover photo by Weekes and work by local spoken word poet Thandiwe McCarthy.
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