Family of Mine

Solo Show of Photography

January 21 - February 27, 2010

 show overview

JASON HOUSTON: "Family of Mine"

Date: Thursday, January 21, 2010

Reception 5:00-6:30 pm

Performance: Billie Best at Alchemy Initiative @ 7:00 pm

Exhibition Dates: January 21 – February 27, 2010

Ferrin Gallery is pleased to announce a solo show of photography by Jason Houston called "Family of Mine." The show features eleven large scale prints of moments captured at Houston's family get-togethers between 2002 and 2007. The images, although intimate and personal, are poignant reflections of relationships, traditions, values and family dynamics that are universally identifiable. As Houston explains, "my photographs of family events are spontaneous, mutely observant, and never staged. Blood, love, and obligation draw us together in a place where worldviews mix, match, confuse, and clash. As an embed in this intimate, interpersonal world, I document my particular and familiar reality and explore the sometimes tense dichotomies that define American family life." The images are printed as 30x40" color prints - the exact opposite of the 4x6" family snapshot.

The title off the show, "Family of Mine," directly refers to "Family of Man", an exhibition curated by Edward Steichen for the Museum of Modern Art in 1955. Both the show and the book, a collection of photographs by over 250 artists that represent the human condition, are important inspirations for Houston.

"Family of Mine" was first exhibited at Rayko Gallery in San Francisco. Two works from this series were shown at the Berkshire Museum in a show of Berkshire Living Photographers and this is Houston's third exhibition at Ferrin Gallery.

Jason Houston, an independent documentary photographer, focuses on social and environmental issues across the country and around the world. He has photographed the small family farms throughout the Berkshire region for over a decade and traveled to over a dozen countries documenting community-based conservation in the developing world. His environmental portraits, landscapes, and elemental details focus the viewer on the global issues and processes that define how we live on this planet.

The Widow Wears Red Pajamas - A one-woman experience by Billie Best

The Widow Wears Red Pajamas is a one hour monologue that shatters taboos about death and dying. Part memoir, part love story, and part helpful how-to, the performance is a helpful story for those who wish to approach death consciously as the final stage in the cycle of life. In this provocative performance, author/storyteller Billie Best shares her experience caring for her dying husband, reflects on life as a widow and, as she contemplates her own death, challenges the audience to liberate themselves from fear and approach their own inevitable deaths with a creative spirit. Poignant, inspiring, and occasionally quite funny, The Widow Wears Red Pajamas is illuminated by exquisite photographs of Best's husband taken before and after his death by documentary photographer, Jason Houston (www.jasonhouston.com) and can be seen in the book Dying Beautifully.

Dying Beautifully, the inspiration behind Best's performance The Widow Wears Red Pajamas, is intended to provide guidance and comfort to people coping with end of life care. Books can be purchased for $20 at the performance and online at www.dyingbeautifully.org. Review copies of the book are available upon request. See photographs and video clips of The Widow Wears Red Pajamas at www.dyingbeautifully.org.

Ferrin Gallery, one of the nation's premier ceramic art and sculpture galleries offers year round changing exhibitions featuring contemporary art, photography and sculpture from throughout the region. In 2007 the gallery became Pittsfield's first commercial art gallery and purchased the city's first retail condominium as an investment in the redevelopment of the county's major central city. As the city embraced cultural redevelopment, the gallery joined a mix of growing businesses and cultural institutions based in Pittsfield, including Barrington Stage, The Berkshire Museum and The Colonial Theater. With the Beacon Cinema opening in November, the city is poised to become the central, year round location for arts and cultural in the Berkshire region. First established in Northampton in 1979, Ferrin Gallery was located in Lenox, MA from 2002 – 2007 until the move to Pittsfield. The renovated 2,600 square foot space is available for events with a catering kitchen and audio - visual capacity. Open Year Round.

PHOTOS: High resolution photos are available upon request

HOURS: Wednesday - Saturday, 11 - 5:00 and by appointment through December 31.

January - April open Thursday - Saturday 11 - 5:00 and by appointment.