Julie Blackmon photographs scenes she carefully orchestrates with members of her own family, saturated with the “fantasies and realities of domesticity.” Her works cover the sacred moments and wild adventures of a large tribe. She is superb at communicating the mythic attributes of a family along with the chaos.
Blackmon cites Jan Steen and other Dutch and Flemish painters of domestic life as her inspiration. She says that “the Dutch proverb ‘a Jan Steen household’ originated in the 17th century and is used today to refer to a home in disarray, full of rowdy children and boisterous family gatherings.”
Blackmon still lives near the large family she grew up with in her hometown of Springfield, Missouri. Children and siblings from the extended family often show up in Blackmon’s works.
Julie Blackmon is on exhibit through Sept. 2 at The Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, N.Y., here.
Her website, here.
Artist statement, here.
Catherine Edelman Gallery, Chicago, one of the galleries which represents her, here.
A list of other galleries where her work is shown, here.
I “only” have four kids and don’t know how she does these! I’m sure it’s much more work than she makes it seem. Fun stuff!
I think she must have phenomenal organizational skills!
Awesome! In our times of “personal freedom” and “living for ourselves” it’s nice to see artwork that shows family life as an adventure and something changing and quirky to be experienced, rather than a liability and a chore that traps you in a sanitised, repetitive patterns. I like it a lot a LOT!
Great observation! She is surrounded not only by her own kids but also by her nieces and nephews and siblings, all the time. Agree!