Flash: Archana Vikram - The Unwelcome

The California Museum of Photography presents Flash: Archana Vikram, featuring Smothered (2016), a new photograph by the Bangalore-based artist from her series “The Unwelcome” (2014-16). The project responds to the lingering, though illegal, practice of female infanticide in India. The deliberate killing of girl infants results in imbalanced populations, and also reinforces a patriarchal preference for the economic and cultural value of male children. Composing still life arrangements that allude to methods of infanticide, Vikram’s photographs picture crushed, water-submerged, and burned flowers.

Art historian Kelly Filreis (UCR MA 2016) will guest author an original essay to accompany the exhibition.

Flash! contemporary art series features single works made within the last year. The exhibitions are presented on the third floor of the CMP. Flash: Archana Vikram is the fifteenth exhibition in the series.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website