The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City has announced that Em Rooney, a visiting assistant professor of studio art at Denison University, is among the artists debuting in a new exhibition, titled “Being: New Photography 2018.” Rooney is one of only 17 artists chosen for the show. “Being” will run from March 18, 2018 through August 19, 2018.
Rooney is a New York-based artist, writer, and curator born in Bridgeport, Conn. She received her bachelor’s degree from Hampshire College and her Master of Fine Arts from Tyler School of Art.
“I’ve been looking at, visiting, referring to and teaching to the MoMA New Photography series for years, so it’s a huge honor to be included in this exhibition,” said Rooney. “I’m extremely excited to share space with the group of artists selected for the show, and to have gotten to work with Lucy Gallun, the curator of the show.”
“The same poetic, tactile, humanist, and agile approach to art making that is rightfully being recognized by MoMA is evident on a day-to-day basis in Em’s engaged teaching and investment in our arts community at Denison,” said Ron Abram, associate professor of studio and chair of the department. “We’re so proud to call her friend, colleague, and teacher.”
MoMA’s longstanding and celebrated New Photography series investigates charged and layered notions of personhood and subjectivity in recent photography and photo-based art, presenting works by 17 artists working in the US and internationally.
Since its earliest manifestations, photography has been widely seen as a means by which to capture an exact likeness of a person; the artists featured in “Being” mine or upset this rich history as they explore photographic representations of personhood today, when rights of representation are contested for many individuals.