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Augustus Sherman: Aliens or Americans?
November 3 - December 23, 2016
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</div> </figure> <figcaption> </figcaption> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </section> <section id='press'> <div id='screen-press'> <div class='text-with-background' style="background-image: url(https://img.artlogic.net//exhibit-e/5491696ae253608b417b23c6/8557b96b5d6ddeefaad705ca6a0bec80.jpeg)" > <header class="section-header divider "><div class="container"><h4>Press Release</h4><span class="links"><a href='/attachment/en/5491696ae253608b417b23c6/TextOneColumnWithBackground/57f90ff053d850e172ec9cef' target="_blank">Download PDF</a></span></div></header> <div class="container paragraph-styling"> <div class="text"> <p>Augustus Sherman: Aliens or Americans?<br /> Exhibition: November 3rd – December 23rd, 2016<br /> Opening Reception: Thursday, November 3rd, 2016, 6 – 8 PM<br /> <br /> “Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt<br /> Steven Kasher Gallery is pleased to announce Augustus Sherman: Aliens or Americans?, an exhibition featuring 35 vintage black and white portraits of immigrants on Ellis Island made by Augustus Sherman between 1905 and 1920. This is the first U.S. exhibition and first gallery exhibition of Sherman’s work. This exhibition gives historical context to Donald Trump’s populist disparagement of immigrants as undesirable aliens. Sherman, who was Chief Clerk at Ellis Island Immigration Station, made these sympathetic portraits to promote the services of his organization. However they were also used, without attribution, in various anti-immigrant publications that asserted that America would fall apart under the pressure of these so called “aliens.” For instance, in 1906 Sherman’s images were used in the book Aliens or Americans? by Baptist minister Howard B. Grose as visual evidence of the supposed menace of the “new immigrants.” More than 100 million living Americans, a third of our population, are descendants from the 12 million people who entered the U.S. through Ellis Island between 1892 and 1954. Whether aliens or Americans, they are us.<br /> <br /> Augustus Sherman was hired by the Bureau of Immigration as a clerk on Ellis Island in 1892. By his death in 1925, he was Chief Clerk of Ellis Island, in charge of the Immigration Bureau’s extensive correspondence. His high ranking position gave him special access to Ellis Island detainees and afforded him opportunity to take his photographs. He persuaded detainees to pose for his camera, encouraging them to wear their finest clothes or national dress. The Sherman archive at the Ellis Island Immigration Museum holds over 250 of his portraits of immigrants. They are not the “huddled masses yearning to be free" as described by Emma Goldman. They are not portrayals of anonymous travelers weary from journey as photographed by Lewis Hine. Sherman is producing a catalog of diversity. Each newcomer is described in full, face forward, in their most exceptional outfits, captioned by place of origin, and often name and occupation. Sherman takes pains to individuate each subject with a unique setting, pose and framing. In these ways Sherman was a companion to August Sander whose portrait project People of the Twentieth Century is a touchstone of photography.<br /> <br /> Sherman’s work came to attention in 2005 when Aperture published Augustus F. Sherman: Ellis Island Portraits 1905 – 1920. Recently, Sherman’s portraits were chosen by specialists at Dynamichrome as important subjects for their innovative colorization techniques, and will be published in their forthcoming book The Paper Time Machine. Using historical references from the era they pinpointed the exact colors that would have appeared in the immigrant’s costumes. Featured in an article on Buzzfeed (http://bzfd.it/2cQZAGA) the colorized photographs help us imagine the vivid splendor these culturally significant clothes would have held in their day.<br /> <br /> Augustus Sherman: Aliens or Americans? will be on view November 3rd – December 23rd, 2016. Steven Kasher Gallery is located at 515 W. 26th St., New York, NY 10001. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 AM to 6 PM. For more information about the exhibition and all other general inquiries, please contact Cassandra Johnson, 212 966 3978, cassandra@stevenkasher.com.</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </section> <section id='associations'> <div class='associations fixed-font'> <div id="related-a1"> <div id='a1' class="associations centered"> <div class="associations"> <div id="a1-grid" class='grid-container'> <header class="section-header divider "><div class="container"><h4>Artists</h4></div></header> <div id="" class='container grid entries fixed-font '><div class='entry'><a href='/artists/augustus-sherman'><div class="placeholder"><div class="image"><img itemprop="image" alt='Augustus Sherman' class="rollover-image-out" src='https://img.artlogic.net/w_1120,h_840,c_lfill/exhibit-e/5491696ae253608b417b23c6/038c92a3690cc152c175cf42df01cf37.jpeg' ></div></div><span class="titles"><div class="title">Augustus Sherman</div></span></a></div></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div id="related-press"> <div id='press' class="associations"> <div class="associations"> <div id="press-grid" class='grid-container'> <header class="section-header divider "><div class="container"><h4>Press</h4></div></header> <div id="" class="container press-thumbs grid entries fixed-font fitted"> <div class='entry'> <div class="placeholder"> <div class='image'> <a href='http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/14/arts/design/four-not-to-miss-photography-shows.html?_r=0' target="_blank"> <img alt='The New York Times on Augustus Sherman' src='https://img.artlogic.net/w_410,h_320,c_lfill/exhibit-e/5491696ae253608b417b23c6/408d61c5f3ebcc3c416c014d2897729a.jpeg' srcset="https://img.artlogic.net/w_205,h_160,c_lfill/exhibit-e/5491696ae253608b417b23c6/408d61c5f3ebcc3c416c014d2897729a.jpeg 1x, https://img.artlogic.net/w_410,h_320,c_lfill/exhibit-e/5491696ae253608b417b23c6/408d61c5f3ebcc3c416c014d2897729a.jpeg 2x" > </a> </div></div> <div class='paragraph-styling info'> <span class='title'>The New York Times on Augustus Sherman</span><span class="date">December 14, 2016</span> <p>Vicki Goldberg named our Augustus Sherman show one of "Four Not-To-Miss Photography Shows" in the New York Times Art Review. </p> <div class='links'> <a class="attachment" href='/attachment/en/5491696ae253608b417b23c6/Press/5852b405f6c038c77a8da4d4' target="_blank">Download PDF</a> <a class="view-more" href='http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/14/arts/design/four-not-to-miss-photography-shows.html?_r=0' target="_blank">www.nytimes.com</a> </div> </div></div><div class='entry'> <div class="placeholder"> <div class='image'> <a href='http://hyperallergic.com/330062/newly-colorized-portraits-of-immigrants-photographed-by-an-ellis-island-clerk/' target="_blank"> <img alt='Hyperallergic on Augustus Sherman' src='https://img.artlogic.net/w_410,h_320,c_lfill/exhibit-e/5491696ae253608b417b23c6/5ce2309936ff1b769a3f84879922bcfe.jpeg' srcset="https://img.artlogic.net/w_205,h_160,c_lfill/exhibit-e/5491696ae253608b417b23c6/5ce2309936ff1b769a3f84879922bcfe.jpeg 1x, https://img.artlogic.net/w_410,h_320,c_lfill/exhibit-e/5491696ae253608b417b23c6/5ce2309936ff1b769a3f84879922bcfe.jpeg 2x" > </a> </div></div> <div class='paragraph-styling info'> <span class='title'>Hyperallergic on Augustus Sherman</span><span class="date">December 12, 2016</span> <p>Claire Voon explores the work of Augustus Sherman and announces the publication of "The Paper Time Machine: Coloring the Past", where the images will appear in color!</p> <div class='links'> <a class="attachment" href='/attachment/en/5491696ae253608b417b23c6/Press/58506be18cdb50535b1b6fa2' target="_blank">Download PDF</a> <a class="view-more" href='http://hyperallergic.com/330062/newly-colorized-portraits-of-immigrants-photographed-by-an-ellis-island-clerk/' target="_blank">www.hyperallergic.com</a> </div> </div></div><div class='entry'> <div class="placeholder"> <div class='image'> <a href='http://www.ai-ap.com/publications/article/19410/exhibitions-augustus-shermans-images-of-aliens.html' target="_blank"> <img alt='Pro Photo Daily on Augustus Sherman' src='https://img.artlogic.net/w_410,h_320,c_lfill/exhibit-e/5491696ae253608b417b23c6/868ddf0b1a03b4dcae9dc91c37d8e32b.jpeg' srcset="https://img.artlogic.net/w_205,h_160,c_lfill/exhibit-e/5491696ae253608b417b23c6/868ddf0b1a03b4dcae9dc91c37d8e32b.jpeg 1x, https://img.artlogic.net/w_410,h_320,c_lfill/exhibit-e/5491696ae253608b417b23c6/868ddf0b1a03b4dcae9dc91c37d8e32b.jpeg 2x" > </a> </div></div> <div class='paragraph-styling info'> <span class='title'>Pro Photo Daily on Augustus Sherman</span><span class="date">October 24, 2016</span> <p>Pro Photo Daily helps us to announce our upcoming exhibition, "Augustus Sherman: Aliens or Americans?” </p> <div class='links'> <a class="attachment" href='/attachment/en/5491696ae253608b417b23c6/Press/580fa9528cdb508839be8e8b' target="_blank">Download PDF</a> <a class="view-more" href='http://www.ai-ap.com/publications/article/19410/exhibitions-augustus-shermans-images-of-aliens.html' target="_blank">www.ai-ap.com</a> </div> </div></div></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </section> </div> <footer class="divider show3col full-width-divider"><span class="container clearfix"><div class='divider'></div><div class='footer-cols'><div class="footer-col1"><div><!-- Begin Mailchimp Signup Form --></div><link href="//cdn-images.mailchimp.com/embedcode/classic-10_7.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /><style type="text/css">#mc_embed_signup{clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; width:600px;} /* Add your own Mailchimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. 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