A-I-R: New Acquisitions 2019 highlights a selection of new work that has been donated to the Light Work Collection by recent Artists-in-Residence (AIR). Launched in 1976, the residency program now receives nearly 1,000 submissions annually. Light Work makes an international call for submissions and then selects twelve to fifteen artists to come to Syracuse for one month to pursue creative projects. The twenty-three prints in A-I-R highlight Light Work’s recent acquisitions and celebrate the organization’s enduring commitment to championing the work of emerging and under-represented artists working in photography.

The works in A-I-R: New Acquisitions 2019 visually articulate the diverse practices and perspectives that photographers who have participated in the residency program employ. Many of these artists have mounted further exhibitions and projects that have garnered national acclaim. Artists in the group exhibition include Khalik Allah (New York, NY), Atong Atem (Melbourne, Australia), Carolyn Drake (Vallejo, CA), Jess T. Dugan (St. Louis, MO), Fumi Ishino (Los Angeles, CA), Justine Kurland (New York, NY), Kate Ovaska (Brooklyn, NY), Sarker Protick (Dhaka, Bangladesh), Guillaume Simoneau ((Montreal, Quebec, Canada), Aaron Turner (Fayetteville, AK), Cristina Velásquez (Long Island City, NY), Paul Mpagi Sepuya (Los Angeles, CA), and Vasantha Yogananthan (Paris, France).

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Artists in A-I-R: New Acquisitions 2019 have also appeared in Contact Sheet: Light Work Annual 2017 and Light Work Annual 2018. Contact Sheet publications are available for purchase online at www.lightwork.org/shop