The Menil Collection and the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston’s Teen Council present Root Shift: Photographs of Stasis and Change Selected by CAMH Teen Council, an exhibition on the perennial themes of continuity and disruption. Since the advent of photography, the camera has served to capture momentous environmental, social, and political upheavals while simultaneously recording the deep-seated rhythms of everyday life.
The exhibition, which comprises photographs from the Menil’s holdings, brings together images of people and landscapes to explore ideas of stability and adaptation. Through photographs by artists such as Tom Arndt, Edward S. Curtis, Elliot Erwitt, Walker Evans, and Richard Misrach, Root Shift investigates some of life’s eternal paradoxes.
Under the guidance of Haley Berkman at the Menil Collection and Jamal Cyrus at CAMH, the Teen Council curated this small survey in relation to the theme of the FotoFest Biennial, Changing Circumstances: Looking at the Future of the Planet. Now in its second installment, the collaboration between the Menil and CAMH provides teens with the opportunity to learn about the curatorial process by working closely with museum staff to organize an exhibition. The members of the 2015–16 CAMH Teen Council are: Hank Bond, Adrian Jimenez, Charlie Magun, El Mashiyah Miller, Connor Mizell, June Ngo, Alex Rodriguez, Kizer Shelton, Jaelyn Walls, Matthew Watowich, Thor Westergaard, Eli Winter, and Felicity Yiu.
This exhibition is generously supported by the City of Houston.
