Those Left Behind
Justin A. Carney
June 2-3, 2023
Viewing Hours: June 2, 10am-9pm; June 3, 10am-6pm
Opening Reception: June 2, 6pm-9pm
Free and open to the public
Aurora PhotoCenter at Re:public, 2301 East 10th Street, Indianapolis
On June 2 & 3, Aurora PhotoCenter will host a special installation of Justin A. Carney’s series Those Left Behind, which explores his family's grief and disconnection after the death of his grandmother, Michal Louise Carney. This intimate look at a family’s mourning and remembrance depicts healing after death as both a collective, universal experience, and a highly personal process. Carney writes of the series, “My work focuses on a struggle with loss, coping with grief, as well as the joys of being alive and the intimate moments spent with family. Those Left Behind not only shows the effects of death but also visualizes a celebration of life. In capturing those intimate moments with family, as ordinary as they may appear, there is a realization of unity, of togetherness that death may change but never fully take away.”
Those Left Behind is the first in a series of short exhibitions hosted by Aurora PhotoCenter in 2023 to highlight the work of photographers currently working in Indiana. This installation of Those Left Behind will feature images from the series seen in print for the first time, as well as an audio component that integrates voices from the artist’s family with the show’s images. Carney describes the role of the installation’s sound component as he writes, “The audio has interviews from my mother and uncles that reflect on their time with their mother (my grandmother), their joys, their regrets, how they view the ways their relationship with each other has changed, and the night that she passed in my mother’s home. The interviews overlap at times to show the layers of memory, and at other times give space for one person to speak on their experiences.”
The exhibition will be open to the public for viewing June 2 and 3, 2023, with open hours June 2 from 10am-9pm, and June 3 from 10am-6pm. Aurora will host an opening reception, with a brief talk in the gallery by the artist, on June First Friday, June 2, from 6-9pm; the artist will speak about his work at 6:30pm. Limited parking at Re:public is located in front of the venue, with additional free parking in the lot across the street.
Justin A. Carney uses autobiographical photography to question how death and grief affect familial connections — the bonds that keep a family together and cause them to separate, and how those bonds shape an individual. Originally from Baltimore, Maryland, Carney was awarded first place in the Single Image category of LensCulture’s 2023 Art Photography Awards. He is a recipient of the Reva Shiner Memorial Award in the 2022 National Society of Arts and Letters Competition and Exhibition and the Best in Show Award in the 2020 Emerging Vision: Biennial Student Show at the Colorado Photographic Art Center. Carney’s work has been exhibited nationally and abroad, including in China, South Korea, London, and Spain.
Annual operating support for Aurora PhotoCenter provided by the City of Indianapolis through the Indy Arts Council. Additional support provided by the Efroymson Family Fund.