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CLASS:PUBLIC
DTSTAMP:20261024T001506Z
UID:10001099-1793214000-1793219400@griffinmuseum.org-1792800906@towncommon.org
DTSTART:20261028T230000Z
DTEND:20261029T003000Z
SUMMARY:TLC | Alanna Airitam & Star Montana in conversation with curator
  Delphine Sims
DESCRIPTION:Join us for a special conversation with the curator and artists of
  TLC\, Dr. Delphine Sims\, Assistant Curator of Photography\, San
  Francisco Museum of Art\, along with participating artists Alanna
  Airitam and Star Montana. 
 
 J Town & Youngsta\, ©Alanna AiritamLevel Up\, ©Alanna AiritamFamily
  Portrait\, © Star MontanaPaula\, Martha with Daughter(s)\, © Star
  Montana
 
 About Dr. Delphine Sims - 
 
 Delphine Sims is an Assistant Curator in the Department of Photography
  at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. She completed her PhD in
  the History of Art Department at UC Berkeley with a focus on Blackness
  and American landscape photography. Delphine was awarded pre-doctoral
  fellowships at the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts within
  the National Gallery of Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
  Exhibitions she curated and co-curated include\, (Re)Constructing
  History\, Around Group F.64\, About Things Loved: Blackness and
  Belonging and Graciela Iturbide: Between Two Worlds. In addition to
  exhibition catalogs\, her writing can be found in Aperture\, Matte
  magazine\, and the Believer. In 2026\, Delphine was selected for the
  Studio Museum in Harlem's Arts Leadership Praxis. 
 
 About Alana Airitam - 
 
 Alanna Airitam is a Tucson based\, self-taught photographic artist
  whose work interrogates historical omissions\, constructs of
  representation\, and the visual legacies of Black identity. Rooted in
  the spirit of early nineteenth century Black studio photographers and
  the theoretical frameworks of Black feminist thinkers such as Tina M.
  Campt and Christina Sharpe\, her practice confronts the afterlives of
  colonialism\, visualizing Black presence beyond the constraints of
  erasure and exclusion. Through her engagement with light\,
  materiality\, and historical reference\, she constructs images to
  disrupt dominant visual traditions while embodying both ancestral
  memory and Afrofuturist reimagination. 
 
 Airitam's work employs dramatic chiaroscuro style lighting processes
  to elevate subjects often erased from Western art history. Her richly
  toned prints evoke a painterly quality\, merging contemporary
  photographic techniques with the visual language of classical
  portraiture. Drawing from the lineage of Black studio photography\,
  she explores portraiture as a site of reclamation and resistance. 
 
 Her images\, enriched by archival research and material
  experimentation\, integrate metal\, resin\, varnish\, and gold to
  create layered works that blur the boundaries between photography\,
  painting\, iconography\, and object making. Her practice speaks to the
  complexities of visibility\, the impact of exclusion\, and the radical
  potential of Black presence in historically inaccessible spaces. 
 
 Her work has been included in critical conversations on
  representation\, the history of Black studio photographers\, and the
  Dutch Golden Age's colonial legacy. Recent highlights include Black
  Diamonds at Etherton Gallery and The Collection: Dutch Art Expanded at
  Phoenix Art Museum. Her work has most recently been featured in
  Southwest Contemporary Magazine\, Apocalypse Magazine\, and Dear Dave
  Magazine\, underscoring its relevance in contemporary discourse. 
 
 By integrating historical inquiry with poetic and conceptual image
  making\, Airitam's practice invites viewers to reconsider who is
  seen\, how we see\, and what it means to reclaim Black presence in the
  archive\, the canon\, and the future. 
 
 About Star Montana - 
 
 Star Montana is a photo-based artist who lives and works in Los
  Angeles\, CA. She was born and raised in the Boyle Heights
  neighborhood of East Los Angeles\, a predominantly Mexican American
  area that serves as the backdrop to much of her work. Her work has
  recently been exhibited at Charlie James Gallery (2019\, 2016)\;
  Residency Art Gallery (2018)\; LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes (2018)\;
  Occidental College (2017)\; The Mexican Center for Culture and
  Cinematic Arts at the Mexican Consulate General of Mexico (2017)\; The
  Main Museum (2017)\; Ballroom Marfa (2017)\; and Vincent Price Art
  Museum (2016). Montana was the artist-in-residence at the Robert
  Rauschenberg Foundation in 2020. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in
  Art from the University of Southern California\, a Bachelor of Fine
  Arts in Photography from the School of Visual Arts\, and an Associate
  of Arts in Photography from East Los Angeles College.
LOCATION:https://griffinmuseum.org/event/tlc_sims_montana_airitam/
URL:https://griffinmuseum.org/event/tlc_sims_montana_airitam/
CATEGORIES:Cultural\,Education
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