Aspects of Culture (The Chair of Booker T. Washington with the Microscope of George Washington Carver)
Artist
Burk Uzzle
(American, b. 1938)
CultureAmerican
Date1991
MediumGelatin silver print
DimensionsOverall, Image: 31 1/2 × 39 1/2 in. (80 × 100.3 cm)
Overall, Frame: 33 1/2 × 41 1/2 in. (85.1 × 105.4 cm)
Overall, Frame: 33 1/2 × 41 1/2 in. (85.1 × 105.4 cm)
Credit LineGift of the Artist
Object number92.23.3
Not on view
Label TextBurk Uzzle
American (b. 1938)
Aspects of Culture (The Chair of Booker T. Washington with the Microscope of George Washington Carver), 1991
Gelatin-silver print
Gift of the Artist 92.23.3
Self taught, Burk Uzzle began his career in photography on the staff of the Raleigh News and Observer, and in 1962, worked as a contract photographer for LIFE magazine. He joined Magnum Photos in 1967, and was president from 1969 to 1970. His 1984 book All American was a humorous, straightforward look at America. Uzzle's most recent work employs multiple exposures made in the camera to express more complex issues than can be revealed in a straight documentary photograph. This statement was printed in a 1992 exhibition catalogue entitled A Progress Report on Civilization that was published concurrently with his solo exhibition at the Chrysler Museum.
"I had the opportunity to photograph down at the Tuskegee Institute in Tuskegee, Alabama - the chair that was Booker T. Washington's personal chair, an antique with impeccable craftsmanship that was brought over from Japan, and the old copper microscope of George Washington Carver. Now to me, the two of those together represent the beginning of a tradition of knowledge in a certain place at a certain time for certain people...and represented such an extraordinary achievement.
The Chrysler collection contains nine Uzzle photographs.
Edited By: GLY
Edited Date: 11/10/2003Exhibition History"A Progress Report on Civilization: Burk Uzzle," The Chrysler Museum, Norfolk, VA, July 19 - October 11, 1992.
"Treasures for the Community: The Chrysler Collects, 1989-1996," October 25, 1996 - February 16, 1997
"Silver Images: The Photography Collection at 25," Alice R. and Sol B. Frank Photo Galleries, Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Va., November 5, 2003 - August 2004.
"Remix: A Fresh Look At Our Modern And Contemporary Art Collections," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, Virginia, November 2, 2011 - March 17, 2012.Published ReferencesA PROGRESS REPORT ON CIVILIZATION: BURK UZZLE (Norfolk, VA: The Chrysler Museum, 1992), n.p.
