On View: ‘Love Letters for Harlem,’ Photographs by John Pinderhughes, Ruben Natal SanMiguel, Jeffrey Henson Scales and Shawn Walker at Claire Oliver Gallery

“Lady Money Sings The Blues” (2011) by Ruben Natal-San Miguel

On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions

FOUR HARLEM PHOTOGRAPHERS are the focus of the latest exhibition at Claire Oliver Gallery—John Pinderhughes, Ruben Natal SanMiguel, Jeffrey Henson Scales, and Shawn Walker. The artful images featured in “Love Letters for Harlem” pay homage to the neighborhood they call home, showcase their unique perspectives, and celebrate the people and culture that define Harlem. The works are drawn from series that date from the mid-1980s to 2020.

Pinderhughes and Walker are members of Kamoinge Workshop. The collective of Black New York photographers established in 1963 is the subject of an expansive survey at the Whitney Museum of American Art, through March. 28. At Claire Oliver, selections from Pinderhughes’s 1998 series “Pretty for a Black Girl” are on view. Walker is presenting a trio of works from “Misterioso / Painting with Light,” a series of vividly colored, abstracted images composed from Harlem’s streetscape.

Natal-San Miguel has been making photographs in New York City for two decades. He contributed a series of street portraits of women and girls, made between 2011 and 2020, that capture the spirit and nature of his subjects, with the contours of Harlem serving as backdrops.

“House,” a series of black-and-white images by Jeffrey Henson Scales, chronicles a storied Harlem barbershop, where a small “Buy Black” sign is tucked next to a mirror. Spanning six years, from 1986 to 1992, the series is represented in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art. Outside his photography practice, Scales serves as a photo editor at The New York Times, where he oversees photography for the Opinion section, curates the Exposures column, and leads the annual Year In Pictures project. CT

“Love Letters for Harlem” is on view at Claire Oliver Gallery in Harlem, by appointment, Feb. 22-April 3, 2021

A portion of the proceeds of sales from exhibition will benefit Harlem Community Relief Fund, an initiative of the Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce (GHCC), which is working in concert with other local organizations to combat food insecurity in Harlem. Their efforts support Salem United Methodist Church, where more than 1,200 free meals are served daily.

JEFFREY HENSON SCALES, “Buy Black, House’s Barber Shop,” 1986/1992 (gelatin silver print,
18 x 18 x inches / 46 x 46 x cm). | © Jeffrey Henson Scales, Courtesy the artist and Claire Oliver Gallery

JEFFREY HENSON SCALES, “Morning, House’s Barber Shop,” 1986/1992 (gelatin silver print, 18 x 18 x inches / 46 x 46 x cm). | © Jeffrey Henson Scales, Courtesy the artist and Claire Oliver Gallery

JEFFREY HENSON SCALES, “Mr Ben #2, House’s Barber Shop,” 1986/1992 (gelatin silver print, 18 x 18 x inches / 46 x 46 x cm). | © Jeffrey Henson Scales, Courtesy the artist and Claire Oliver Gallery

SHAWN W. WALKER, “Misterioso,” 2011 (archival digital pigment print, 9 x 16 x inches / 23 x 41 x cm). | © Shawn W. Walker, Courtesy the artist and Claire Oliver Gallery

SHAWN W. WALKER, “Misterioso,” 2015 (archival digital pigment print, 15 x 19 x inches / 38 x 48 x cm). | © Shawn W. Walker, Courtesy the artist and Claire Oliver Gallery

FIND MORE Last year, Shawn W. Walker donated more than 100,000 images to the Library of Congress, his entire archive and substantial holdings representing the Kamoinge Workshop

JOHN PINDERHUGHES, “Pretty For A Black Girl #1,” 1998 (archival Digital Pigment Print, 15 x 18 x inches / 37 x 45 x cm). | © John Pinderhughes, Courtesy the artist and Claire Oliver Gallery

JOHN PINDERHUGHES, “Pretty For A Black Girl #3,” 1998 (archival digital pigment Print, 1998
15 x 18 x inches | 37 x 45 x cm). | © John Pinderhughes, Courtesy the artist and Claire Oliver Gallery

RUBEN NATAL-SAN MIGUEL, “Sisters,” 2020 (dye sublimation photograph on aluminum white matte finish, 16 x 20 x inches / 41 x 51 x cm), Edition of 3. | © Ruben Natal-San Miguel, Courtesy the artist and Claire Oliver Gallery

RUBEN NATAL-SAN MIGUEL, “Mama (Beautiful Skin),” 2017 (dye sublimation photograph on aluminum white matte finish, 24 x 24 x inches / 61 x 61 x cm), Edition of 3 @ 24×24 © Ruben Natal-San Miguel, Courtesy the artist and Claire Oliver Gallery

TOP IMAGE: RUBEN NATAL-SAN MIGUEL, “Lady Money Sings The Blues,” 2011 (dye sublimation photograph on aluminum white matte finish, 20 x 24 x inches / 51 x 61 x cm), Edition of 3. | © Ruben Natal-San Miguel, Courtesy the artist and Claire Oliver Gallery

BOOKSHELF
“Working Together: Louis Draper and the Kamoinge Workshop” documents the traveling exhibition organized by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and currently on view at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. Jeffrey Henson Scales’s photographs of House’s barbershop in Harlem are published in “House.” Years ago, photographer John Pinderhughtes authored “Family of the Spirit Cookbook: Recipes and Rememberances from African-American Kitchens.”