David Plowden’s Iowa Exhibit

This important series of black-and-white photographs, on loan from Humanities Iowa, takes a concise yet expansive view of Iowa's rural communities and agricultural landscapes, including barns, grain elevators, cornfields, local businesses, highways, churches, and schools.

Shot with remarkable consistency from the 1960s through the 2000s, Plowden's photographs register how the history of the state can be read in its small towns and farms. His work is often compared to other American artists such as Walker Evans, Berenice Abbott, and Charles Sheeler. He stays close to the facts. The structures are photographed as they are, shaped by work and time. Plowden doesn't editorialize. He didn't frame his subjects with nostalgia or critique. Still, those reactions can be hard to avoid now. He saw what was there and photographed it with a kind of quiet conviction. The 90 photographs in this exhibition create a portrait of Iowa that's plainspoken and layered.

David Plowden was born on October 9, 1932, in Boston, MA. He attended The Putney School in Vermont and graduated from Yale University in 1955. After working briefly for the Great Northern Railway, he began to pursue his career in photography. Plowden's work is currently included in the permanent collection of many art museums, including the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, Figge Art Museum, Grohmann Museum, Smithsonian Institute, George Eastman House, Center for Creative Photography, Art Institute of Chicago, Library of Congress, and the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University. He currently lives in Winnetka, Illinois.

This exhibition of David Plowden's Iowa was organized by Sioux City Art Center Curator Christopher Atkins. It was originally organized by Humanities Iowa and toured the state from 2012 - 2014.

The public is invited to a opening reception, with FREE margaritas, to celebrate Cinco de Mayo at the Art Center on Tuesday, May 5, 4 - 5 p.m.