Marion M. Bass, known as Pinky Bass or Pinky/MM Bass, is an American
photographer
A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs.
Duties and types of photographers
As in other ...
, known for her work in
pinhole photography.
Bass, a resident of
Fairhope
Fairhope is a city in Baldwin County, Alabama, United States, located on the eastern shoreline of Mobile Bay. The 2020 Census lists the population of the city as 22,477. Fairhope is a principal city of the Daphne-Fairhope-Foley metropolita ...
,
Alabama
(We dare defend our rights)
, anthem = "Alabama"
, image_map = Alabama in United States.svg
, seat = Montgomery
, LargestCity = Huntsville
, LargestCounty = Baldwin County
, LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham
, area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...
, has exhibited at a number of museums including the Asheville Art Museum,
Birmingham Museum of Art
The Birmingham Museum of Art is a museum in Birmingham, Alabama. It has one of the most extensive collections of artwork in the Southeastern United States, with more than 24,000 paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings, and decorative arts repres ...
, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, the
High Museum of Art
The High Museum of Art (colloquially the High) is the largest museum for visual art in the Southeastern United States. Located in Atlanta, Georgia (on Peachtree Street in Midtown, the city's arts district), the High is 312,000 square feet (28, ...
in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
,
Huntsville Museum of Art in Huntsville, Alabama, the
Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts in Montgomery, Alabama,
Mobile Museum of Art in Mobile, Alabama,
National Museum of Women in the Arts
The National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA), located in Washington, D.C., is "the first museum in the world solely dedicated" to championing women through the arts. NMWA was incorporated in 1981 by Wallace and Wilhelmina Holladay. Since openin ...
(NMWA) in Washington, D.C., the
Philadelphia Museum of Art and the
Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art in Winston-Salem, North Carolina among others.
Well known for her work in pinhole photography, Bass has work in the collection of the Polaroid Corporation. Bass has taught numerous workshops in
pinhole camera
A pinhole camera is a simple camera without a lens but with a tiny aperture (the so-called '' pinhole'')—effectively a light-proof box with a small hole in one side. Light from a scene passes through the aperture and projects an inverted image ...
across the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
including EMRYS Foundation,
Penland School of Crafts
The Penland School of Craft ("Penland" and formerly "Penland School of Crafts") is an Arts and Crafts educational center located in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Spruce Pine, North Carolina, about 50 miles from Asheville.
History
The school was ...
and University of Memphis and Space One Eleven. Known for her portable pop-up
pinhole
A hole is an opening in or through a particular medium, usually a solid body. Holes occur through natural and artificial processes, and may be useful for various purposes, or may represent a problem needing to be addressed in many fields of en ...
cameras, The first of these cameras was a giant
pinhole
A hole is an opening in or through a particular medium, usually a solid body. Holes occur through natural and artificial processes, and may be useful for various purposes, or may represent a problem needing to be addressed in many fields of en ...
she made out of a pop-up camper -- "Pinky's Portable Pop-up Pinhole Camera and Darkroom". She made this piece for the "Itinerant Photography Project" in 1989.
In March 1997, Bass was honored by the Georgia Commission on Women for "Georgia Women in the Visual Arts".
Exhibitions
Solo exhibitions
Bass has had over 40 solo exhibitions, many of which traveled.
*2006: ''BodyWorks'' at the
University of Montevallo
The University of Montevallo is a public university in Montevallo, Alabama. Founded on October 12, 1896, the university is Alabama's only public liberal arts college and a member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges. The University of M ...
, Bloch Hall Gallery in Spring 2006.
*2007: Bass' work was chosen by curator,
Jon Coffelt as the inaugural artist for the new book arts program at
SPACE Gallery in
New York, NY. Bass exhibited her ''Cuerpos Santos Series''. SPACE Gallery, New York, 2007.
Exhibitions with others
*''For Donna Barrister's Gallery curated by Deborah Luster featured works by Pinky Bass, Ruth Marten, Danna Moore, Laura Noland-Harter, Donna Service, Barrister's Gallery,
.
*''The Lensless View: Contemporary Pinhole Photography'' curated by
Diana H. Bloomfield along with work by Rebecca Sexton Larson, Scott McMahon, Christopher Sims, Sarah Van Keuren and Sam Wang.
*''(Id) An Exhibition of Self Portraiture,'' 2006, along with
Dieter Appelt,
Judy Dater
Judith Rose Dater (née Lichtenfeld; June 21, 1941) is an American photographer and feminist. She is perhaps best known for her 1974 photograph, ''Imogen and Twinka at Yosemite'', featuring an elderly Imogen Cunningham, one of America's first wo ...
,
Nate Larson,
Robert Mapplethorpe, Arno Rafael Minkkinen,
Constance Thalken
Constance Thalken (/tah-kin/; born 1952 in Nebraska) is an American intermedia artist known mostly for her photographic explorations of the complexities of loss. She has gained recognition for her ability to carefully convey subject matter that s ...
and Bill Thoma.
*''"Voices Rising: Alabama Women at the Millennium'' by the Alabama State Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA) at the
Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts. This exhibition was made into a video presentation (also called ''Voices Rising'') that ran on
Alabama Public Television
Alabama Public Television (APT) is a state network of PBS member television stations serving the U.S. state of Alabama. It is operated by the Alabama Educational Television Commission (AETC), an agency of the Alabama state government which ho ...
,
*''On/of Paper'' curated by
Pieter Favier included artists from across the country illustrating the diversity of paper, a medium many art critics may overlook. Each artist featured used paper in some fashion to create their featured art. Bass showed a series of her hand-stitched photography at ''
Space 301'' in
Mobile, Alabama.
*''Politics, Politics: Nice Artists Explore the Political Landscape'' curated by
Anne Arrasmith and
Peter Prinz of Space One Eleven. Included
Clayton Colvin
Clayton Colvin (born 1976) is an American abstract painter, multimedia artist, collagist, and curator of contemporary art who lives and works in Birmingham, Alabama.
Education
Colvin received a BA in Art History from New York University in 1999 ...
, Peggy Dobbins, Randy Gachet, binx Newton, Arthur Price,
John Trobaugh, Paul Ware, and Stan Woodard.
*''Anthropology: Revisited, Reinvented, Reinterpreted,'' 2009, along with the work of
Lee Isaacs,
Karen Graffeo,
Sara Garden Armstrong,
Janice Kluge
Janice Kluge is an American artist who specializes in large and small scale sculpture. She holds a BFA with honors from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and an MFA for the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Kluge is Professor Emeritus of ...
,
Joel Seah,
The Chadwick's,
Mitchell Gaudet,
Kahn and Selesnick,
Mona Hatoum
Mona Hatoum ( ar, منى حاطوم; born 1952) is a British-Palestinian multimedia and installation artist who lives in London.
Biography
Mona Hatoum was born in 1952 in Beirut, Lebanon, to Palestinian parents. Although born in Lebanon, Hatoum ...
,
Beatrice Coron,
Kelly Grider,
Laura Gilbert, among others. The exhibition was curated by
Jon Coffelt and
Maddy Rosenberg
Maddy Rosenberg is an American artist from Brooklyn, New York. She received a BFA from Cornell University and her MFA from Bard College. Rosenberg is both an artist and a curator.
Her art practice extends over a number of media, including oil pa ...
for
Central Booking in Brooklyn, New York.
Awards
* Artist Residency,
Visual Studies Workshop
Visual Studies Workshop (VSW) is a non-profit group dedicated to art education based in Rochester, New York, in the Neighborhood of the Arts. VSW supports makers and interpreters of images through education, publications, exhibitions, and collect ...
, Rochester, New York 1988
* Interdisciplinary Grant (Regional Artist Project) for "The Itinerant Photographer" 1989
* North Carolina Visual Artistic Fellowship Grant 1993
* North Carolina Visual Arts Project Grant 1992
* Alabama Fellowship Grant, Alabama State Council on the Arts 1991
* Site Sculpture Grant "Big Box Camera", Arts Festival of Atlanta, Georgia 1990
* International Print Exhibition Award, Print Club, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1990
* Southern Arts Federation/National Endowment for the Arts Visual Arts Fellowship 1995
* Resen Ceramic Colony Residency (Catalog Photographer), Republic of Macedonia 1997
* Residency,
Western Carolina University
Western Carolina University (WCU) is a public university in Cullowhee, North Carolina. It is part of the University of North Carolina system.
The fifth oldest institution of the sixteen four-year universities in the UNC system, WCU was founded ...
, Cullowee, North Carolina 2000
* Residency,
Oregon College of Art & Craft,
Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...
2004
Publications with contributions by Bass
* ''Tangle of Complexes: Photographing in Mexico.'' Birmingham, Alabama: Space One Eleven, 1996. Includes Pinky/MM Bass; exhibition catalogue; text in English and Spanish; first edition; paperback, 24 pages, 28 cm. The Women in Photography International Archive (now within Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...
) has a copy (as noted in
Publications centered on single photographers: Books A–C"
* ''How to make a PinHole Camera'' on pages 15 and 23 from ''The Book of Alternative Processes'' by James Christopher, Delmar Press, Albany, NY, 2001, Dewey, 771. .
* ''The Polaroid Book.'' By Barbara Hitchcock, Steve Crist, Taschen, 2005 Hardback. 400 pages. .
* ''Pinhole Photography: Rediscovering a Historic Technique.'' E. Renner, 1995, 288pp.
* ''Sleep: Bedtime Reading.'' By Roger Gorman and Robert Peacock. Universe Publishing, 1998. 96pp .
* ''Red Bluff Review.'' By Sonny Brewer, 1995.
Film
* ''Coat of Many Colors,'' directed by Michelle Forman and Carolyn Hales, 2001 documentary for television featured Pinky Bass as herself.
/ref>
* ''"Memento Mori: Positive/Negative"'' contains black and white images. Alabama Public Television.
* is a Butoh performance by Pinky Bass filmed by Doug Baulos a
Space One Eleven
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...
on 2-02-07
References
External links
*
''"Coat of Many Colors"''
''Alabama Public Television''
University of Montevallo
shows an example of her photography with hand-stitching.
shows an example of Bass pinhole
A hole is an opening in or through a particular medium, usually a solid body. Holes occur through natural and artificial processes, and may be useful for various purposes, or may represent a problem needing to be addressed in many fields of en ...
camera
A camera is an optical instrument that can capture an image. Most cameras can capture 2D images, with some more advanced models being able to capture 3D images. At a basic level, most cameras consist of sealed boxes (the camera body), with a ...
work
''The Light Factory''
shows en example of her hand-stitched sculpture
Anna Lamar Switzer Center for Visual Arts
Pensacola Junior College
''"Pinhole Visions"''
Pensacola
Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal ci ...
, Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
, 2006
EMRYS Foundation
Greenville, South Carolina
)'' Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no)
, anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind"
, Former = Province of South Carolina
, seat = Columbia
, LargestCity = Charleston
, LargestMetro = ...
lists Bass pinhole
A hole is an opening in or through a particular medium, usually a solid body. Holes occur through natural and artificial processes, and may be useful for various purposes, or may represent a problem needing to be addressed in many fields of en ...
workshop
the Barristers Gallery
, Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
2005 Group exhibition
Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art
Winston-Salem
Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the 5th most populous city in ...
, North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...
2003 Group Exhibition
Creative Loafing
Charlotte
Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...
, North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...
2006
''"The Book of Alternative Photographic Processes'"
Examples of Bass work on pg. 15
(George-Anne) Southern Daily critic Vanessa Keber Statesboro, Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
1999
Number: Inc. #37, page 13
lists a Bass lecture at University of Memphis, Memphis
Memphis most commonly refers to:
* Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt
* Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city
Memphis may also refer to:
Places United States
* Memphis, Alabama
* Memphis, Florida
* Memphis, Indiana
* Memp ...
, Tennessee
Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bass, Pinky
Living people
American photographers
Artists from Alabama
Western Carolina University faculty
People from Fairhope, Alabama
American women photographers
American women academics
21st-century American women