An-My Lê: 29 Palms Exhibition

The Sheldon Museum of Art received support for the presentation of An-My Lê: 29 Palms, borrowed from the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago and formerly in the Lannan Collection. Featuring images of US soldiers preparing for combat in the desert of California, the exhibition provided the museum’s audience with the opportunity to consider larger issues of armed conflict. Lê stated that the work was created “in complete opposition to combat photography,” and she asks the viewer to consider whether “not only are we militarily ready, but also are we politically, morally, and philosophically prepared?” The exhibition was presented in tandem with the group show Conflict and Consequence: Photographing War and Its Aftermath, organized by the Wright Museum of Art at Beloit College in the fall of 2015. In conjunction with the exhibition, the Sheldon presented a lecture and a dialogue between Lê and curator Karen Irvine of MoCP. The exhibition was on view from January 18 to May 7, 2017.