‘My Mind Was Totally Deceived and Deluded’: How Photographer LaToya Ruby Frazier Uses Images to Fight Deeply Ingrained Stereotypes

The Pennsylvania-born artist LaToya Ruby Frazier has long been interested in
representations of illness.

The reason is personal: the photographer has dealt with the
autoimmune disease lupus for most of her life, and her mother and
grandmother both have faced illnesses that have arisen because they
lived in the shadow of a steel mill that exposed them to various
toxins.

“My work really addresses how a geographic location impacts the
body,” she told Art21 as part of the series “New York Close Up” back
in 2012.

Often, people with illnesses are depicted as second-class
citizens—a stereotype the artist says she used to internalize, and
now wants to fight.

“The mind is the battleground for photography,” she says. “My mind was totally deceived and
deluded… but now my images can change that.”

Opening this month at the Renaissance Society in Chicago, Frazier’s new
show tells the story of another family who faced similar
marginalization after a local GM plant in Lordstown, Ohio,
shuttered, leaving them and others residents without jobs.

Speaking to Art21 she said: “My family just
happens to be a springboard to talking about bigger issues of
class, health care, and environmental racism.. we’re just
reflecting society around us outside of the door.”

Watch the video, which originally appeared as part of
Art21’s “New York Close Up” series, below. “LaToya Ruby Frazier: The Last Cruze” is on view
at the Renaissance Society in Chicago from September 14–December 1,
2019.

This is an installment of “Art on Video,” a collaboration
between artnet News and Art21 that brings you clips of newsmaking
artists. A new season of the nonprofit Art21’s
flagship Art in the Twenty-First
Century television series is available now on PBS. Catch
all episodes of New York Close
Up and Extended Play and
learn about the organization’s education programs
at Art21.org.

The post ‘My Mind Was Totally Deceived and Deluded’: How
Photographer LaToya Ruby Frazier Uses Images to Fight Deeply
Ingrained Stereotypes appeared first on artnet News.