Description
Joseph Mills is a mid-career artist who has produced three distinct but interlocking bodies of work. He is best known for his surreal photomontages and collages, which were the subject of a one-person exhibition at The Corcoran Gallery in Spring 2003. The other two series are the ongoing affair, through photography, with his wife; and his black and white street work, the latter of which are featured in his first monograph, Inner City.
People and their detritus are the focal points of these pictures. His subjects are not Washington’s elite, but those whose situations in life are more peripheral and vulnerable: children, street prophets, the homeless, and the mentally unstable. The resulting pictures are both about the inner-city life he records and his own internal conflicts. Printed on outdated paper and heavily coated in amber-toned varnish, Mills' photographs become objects, 'windows onto some world that really wasn't out there.' Published in association with Hemphill, Washington, DC; essay by Anne Tucker.
District II Exhibit was a poetic visual essay that explored the changing streetscape of downtown Washington in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s through the urban street photography of Bill Barrett, Chris Earnshaw, and Joseph Mills. The works both reflect and confront each other, providing a sense of the physical and social upheavals experienced by the city in those decades.
The District II Exhibit was from November 19, 2016–February 12, 2017. Organized by the Historical Society of Washington, D.C., and presented in partnership with the National Building Museum. The exhibition was made possible through generous support from Events DC and the Newseum.
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- Publish date: July 1, 2005
- Format: Hardcover
- Pages: 68
- Dimensions: 7 x 0.5 x 9 inches
