Alice Hargrave
The Suffragette Bird work began upon noticing the parallel between women gaining their voice through the ratification of the 19th amendment at approximately the same time as a certain female bird lost hers — Martha, the last surviving passenger pigeon died leaving this species extinct. She is honored here with calls by her closest of relatives — species that still live today. These birds are accompanied by other species as well, sending out resounding vocalizations. It’s all about voice — the importance of voice, diversity of voice, and the birds our surrogates.
The first two images are variations on The Suffragette Conference of the Birds, after Farid Attar. I have created a gathering of several female bird calls of diverse species woven together — referencing both the iconic Persian poem from 1177 — The Conference of the Birds as well as the 100 year anniversary of the passage of the 19th amendment. This Epic poem recounts a quest in which the birds of the world unite to seek out the truth and the wisdom of the world. They set off on a flight of discovery — a journey in search of a leader. After crossing many trying obstacles — the “valleys of love, unity, detachment” etc… their trajectory leads them to learn that the truth and wisdom was actually within themselves all along — revealed to them by their own reflections in a lake - they were the leader they set out to find.
We need the wisdom of the birds— to unite however we can— vote — and summon deep within ourselves to help humanity survive it’s own short sightedness. The sound wave patterns of actual bird calls are colored in the natural hues of that particular species.
Archives Courtesy of The Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Alice Hargrave, a photo based artist in Chicago, incorporates sound, video, and photographic imagery within layered site specific installations. Her work addresses impermanence: environmental insecurity, habitat loss, and species extinctions. Hargrave collaborated with The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, to create her project Last Calls/Pink Noise, portraits of threatened birds using sound waves of their last calls in the wild. This project has been widely exhibited, most recently in Lianzhou, China, winning a 2019 Illinois Arts Council Artist Grant, as well as semi finalist awards in both the 2019 and 2020 International Awards of The Print Center, Philadelphia, PA. The bird call patterns are also translated into “Haute Couture” garments by Dovima Paris where profits directly benefit the birds. Paradise Wavering her monograph (Daylight Books 2016) and extensive solo exhibition traveled to multiple venues across the United States, including The Hyde Park Art Center Chicago, University Galleries at Illinois State University, Gallery 555 Boston, The Center for Fine Art Photography Fort Collins CO, and Pictura Gallery Bloomington IN.
Hargrave’s work is included in several permanent collections such as The Museum of Contemporary Photography, The Art Institute of Chicago Artist Book Collection, The Ruttenberg Collection, Nuveen Corporation, and Hyatt Corp. Her work is exhibited widely: The Museum of Contemporary Photography, Yale University Art Gallery, The Smart Museum, The Tweed Museum of Art MN, Art Metz, France, The Griffin Museum of Photography MA, 516 Arts Gallery Albuquerque NM, Newspace Center for Photography Portland OR, among others. She has received many awards, and has been published and reviewed in several journals such as Huffington Post, BBC News, and ARTNET. Formerly a full time professor at Columbia College Chicago, Hargrave currently has decided to teach part time while pursuing research based artist residencies, commissions, and conservation work.
instagram: @alicehargraveq
