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An-My Lê: On Contested Terrain

December 3, 2021–March 27, 2022
Baker/Rowland Galleries

An-My Lê: On Contested Terrain is the first comprehensive survey of the work of celebrated photographer An-My Lê (American, b. Vietnam, 1960). The nationally touring exhibition features large-format black-and-white and color photographs from across Lê’s career, which she has dedicated to exploring the complexity that envelops war.

Born in Saigon, Lê was a teenager when the U.S. military evacuated her and her family in the final year of the Vietnam War, in 1975. For the past thirty years, she has been photographing the peripheries of battle: the training, reenactments, and symbols that further extend and entrench the mark of conflict on the people and places involved.

Using a 5-by-7–inch view camera, Lê creates sweeping views that allow us to consider the expansive reach of armed combat, across space and time. Lê draws on the traditions of survey photography and classical painting to create evocative images that look upon the landscape as a witness to history.

Audio Guide

Hear about the exhibition from artist An-My Lê in conversation with Lisa Sutcliffe, Herzfeld Curator of Photography and Media Arts.

Listen (English) »

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Past Events

An-My Lê: Influential Art History

Virtual Performance and Artist Talk: Patricia Nguyen

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This exhibition is organized by Carnegie Museum of Art.
Major support for this exhibition is provided by Lannan Foundation and the William Talbott Hillman Foundation. Additional support is generously provided by the Virginia Kaufman Fund, the Henry John Simonds Foundation, the Phillip and Edith Leonian Foundation, the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, Jennifer and Karl Salatka, the Virginia S. Warner Foundation, Deb and Sam Berkovitz, and the Gouge Family Fund.
Generous support for the exhibition catalogue has been provided by Marian Goodman Gallery.

Milwaukee Presentation

Presenting Sponsor: Herzfeld Foundation Supporting Sponsors: Lawrence W. Oliverson and Donna N. Guthrie Milwaukee Art Museum’s Photography Council David C. & Sarajean Ruttenberg Arts Foundation
The Milwaukee Art Museum extends its sincere thanks to the 2022 Visionaries:Donna and Donald BaumgartnerMurph BurkeJoel and Caran QuadracciSue and Bud SeligJeff and Gail Yabuki and the Yabuki Family Foundation

Exhibitions originally scheduled for 2020 at the Milwaukee Art Museum are made possible by the 2020 Visionaries: Donna and Donald Baumgartner, John and Murph Burke, Sheldon and Marianne Lubar, Joel and Caran Quadracci, Sue and Bud Selig, and Jeff and Gail Yabuki and the Yabuki Family Foundation.

Image:
  • An-My Lê (American, b. Vietnam, 1960), Fragment I: Film Set (Free State of Jones), Battle of Corinth, Bush, Louisiana, from the series Silent General, 2015. Inkjet print. 40 × 56½ in. Carnegie Museum of Art. Purchased with funds provided by the Henry L. Hillman Foundation, 2020.21.6 © An-My Lê
  • An-My Lê (American, b. Vietnam, 1960), Manning the Rail, USS Tortuga, Java Sea, from the series Events Ashore, 2010. Inkjet print. 40 × 56½ in. Courtesy the artist and Marian Goodman Gallery An-My Lê
  • An-My Lê (American, b. Vietnam, 1960), Untitled, Ho Chi Minh City, from the series Viêt Nam, 1995. Gelatin silver print. 15¾ × 22½ in. Courtesy the artist and Marian Goodman Gallery © An-My Lê
  • An-My Lê (American, b. Vietnam, 1960), Fragment I: Sugar Cane Field, November 5, Houma, Louisiana, from the series Silent General, 2016. Inkjet print. 40 × 56½ in. Milwaukee Art Museum, Purchase, Herzfeld Foundation Acquisition Fund, M2019.111. Photo courtesy of Marian Goodman Gallery © An-My Lê
  • An-My Lê (American, b. Vietnam, 1960), Night Operations III, from the series 29 Palms, 2003–2004. Gelatin silver print. 26½ × 38 in. Collection of the Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago, Museum Purchase; 2005:37 © An-My Lê
  • An-My Lê (American, b. Vietnam, 1960), Rescue, from the series Small Wars, 1999–2002. Gelatin silver print. 26½ × 38 in. Courtesy the artist and Marian Goodman Gallery © An-My Lê
  • An-My Lê (American, b. Vietnam, 1960), Mechanized Assault, from the series 29 Palms, 2003–2004. Gelatin silver print. 26½ × 38 in. Collection of the Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago, Museum Purchase; 2005:38 © An-My Lê
  • An-My Lê (American, b. Vietnam, 1960), Colonel Greenwood, from the series 29 Palms, 2003–2004. Gelatin silver print. 26½ × 38 in. Collection of the Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago, Gift of Lannan Foundation, Santa Fe, NM; 2011:88 © An-My Lê
  • An-My Lê (American, b. Vietnam, 1960), Untitled, Ho Chi Minh City, from the series Viêt Nam, 1995. Gelatin silver print. 15¾ × 22½ in. Carnegie Museum of Art. Purchased with funds provided by the Henry L. Hillman Foundation, 2020.21.1 © An-My Lê
  • An-My Lê (American, b. Vietnam, 1960), Fragment I: General P. G. T. Beauregard Monument, New Orleans, from the series Silent General, 2016. Inkjet print. 40 × 56½ in. Carnegie Museum of Art. Purchased with funds provided by the Henry L. Hillman Foundation, 2020.21.3 © An-My Lê
  • An-My Lê (American, b. Vietnam, 1960), Fragment VIII: Cars along the Rio Grande at the US-Mexico Border, Ojinaga, Mexico, from the series Silent General, 2019. Inkjet print. 40 × 56½ in. Courtesy the artist and Marian Goodman Gallery © An-My Lê