I Am The Woman, a solo presentation of the work of Jorian Charlton, exhibited at Cooper Cole gallery in Toronto from March - April, 2022
This is the curatorial debut of Solana Cain
Jorian Charlton creates portraits in medium format that capture the vibrancy of diversity within the Black community. Charlton holds a strong place in a lineage of Black photographers who create in a collaborative way. She shares agency with her models by using familiar environments as her set, she encourages models to direct their own poses, incorporates their authentic style and then names the works after the models. Charlton’s approach to portraiture is significant because it gives Black people control over how they are represented. This process is Charlton’s way of pushing back at photography’s imperialist history, countering colonial photographic practices, and addressing restriction in movement and over-surveillance of the Black community that continues today.
The title of the exhibition, I Am The Woman, references the poem Remember Me? by American writer and activist Alice Walker. Walker’s poem asserts that the healing of women of colour, namely Black women, is hopeful, only if they find justice; only if their resiliency is acknowledged and space is created for them to exist freely. Charlton’s work mirrors this cry from Walker by advancing new modes of representation for Black people. Throughout these works, Charlton is reminding viewers that you cannot define any or all Black people based on what you’ve read or been told. Her work reminds you, and the Black community, that we each possess a unique story that is ours to share.
Georgia by Jorian Charlton
Curated by Solana Cain and presented for Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival 2022 in partnership with Cooper Cole and ArtworxTO: Toronto's Year of Public Art 2021–2022
Toronto-based photographer Jorian Charlton uses the power of the gaze to reclaim the Black experience of the photo studio. This large-format mural features a model named Georgia, shown unabashedly caressing herself with fingers adorned in multicoloured, manicured nails. Standing tall and asserting herself, she confronts the viewer while commanding the space around her.
