Mimi Plumb (born 1953) began photography as a teenager living near San Francisco. Influenced by the political and economic instability of the 1970s, the way people interact with each other and their environment is a central theme of her work. Plumb's photographs are often poignant and composed with subtle humor and absurdity. The High Museum of Art in Atlanta is now opening the artist's first solo museum exhibition, featuring over 100 of her images. Her work traces how changes in geopolitics, the economy, and the environment have shaped American life from the 1970s to the present. Blazing Light: Photographs by Mimi Plumb opens on February 6 and closes on May 10.
The exhibition focuses on four of Mimi Plumb's projects: The White Sky (1972-1978), her first series of works, deals with the boredom of teenagers in American suburbs. The images are influenced by Plumb's own experiences; at the time, she was only a few years older than the teenagers she photographed. Landfall (1984-1990) and The Golden City (1984-2020) document the decline of nature due to human influences and rapidly spreading urban development. The Reservoir (2021-2025) illustrates how climate change, for example through drought, is increasingly affecting people in their everyday lives. The photographer received a Guggenheim Fellowship for this project in 2022. Plumb's works are included in the collections of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Art Collection Deutsche Börse, among others.
Following its presentation at the High Museum, the exhibition will travel to the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art in Ithaca, New York, the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, Florida, and the Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College Chicago.
