Family

"The works [in Family] vary in size, but for the most are on an intimate scale, and the viewing experience is enhanced by it being situated in one of the museum’s smaller gallery spaces. While it may be approachable, the powerful images by notable artists make this show linger with you for a little while."—Anderson Turner, "Be drawn in by ‘Family’ photos at Akron Art Museum," Akron Beacon Journal Family is a fundamental social construct in every culture. Most basically, its definition references parents, their children and others related by blood or by law. As well, partners, close friends, neighbors, church members, mentors, colleagues and others special to us may assume the role of family in instilling values, offering protection and establishing and maintaining cherished traditions. While families afford a source of stability, births and marriages, dissolutions of relationships, aging and death recurrently alter their structures and dynamics. Many of these events are accompanied by formal rites of passage. Other, more subtle changes in family relationships occur from day to day, and may only be fully understood over the course of time. Formal and informal family relationships are a rich resource for artists and the Akron Art Museum collection features works in many media portraying friends and loved ones. Family shares an array of photographs, most drawn from the Akron Art Museum collection, that record the estranged as well as the fond exchanges that characterize “family.” They offer insights into the intimate, spontaneous, prescribed and strained interactions that distinguish the families we inherit, create and adopt. They were selected within an expansive definition of family, seeking to stimulate conversations about the intentions of the artists and the individual perspectives each visitor brings to the exhibition. Diane Arbus, Walker Evans, TR Ericsson, Larry Fink, Helen Levitt, Danny Lyon, Mary Ellen Mark and Joseph Vitone, are among the photographers featured in Family. Family is organized by the Akron Art Museum. Anne and Don Palmer are the Presenting Sponsors of Family. Additional support is provided by the Ohio Arts Council.   Related Links: [ Anderson Turner, "Be drawn in by ‘Family’ photos at Akron Art Museum," Akron Beacon Journal ]