Two new Penn Libraries exhibits opened on August 28. 

Agit-Prop at Common Press

The term agitprop has been used for more than a century to describe art and media created to influence public opinion. Building on the longstanding history of printmaking as activism, the Common Press letterpress and book arts studio brings visiting artists, students, and community members together to engage with important topics through print.

Curated by former Common Press director Mary Tasillo, Agit-Prop at Common Press sheds light on this powerful use of the letterpress studio, showcasing projects created over the past four years with themes of social justice, protest, and political action.

Common Press is a collaboration of the Penn Libraries, the Stuart Weitzman School of Design, and Kelly Writers House.

Agit-Prop is view until December 15, 2023. This exhibition is free and open to the public and located on the first floor of the Fisher Fine Arts Library. Gallery hours are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays.

Laurence Salzmann: A Life With Others

Curated by Jason Francisco, a visual artist tenured in the film and media department at Emory University, Laurence Salzmann: A Life With Others is the first comprehensive survey of the work of Laurence Salzmann (American, born 1944), whose collection was donated to the Penn Libraries in 2018.

The exhibition explores the major themes of the artist’s remarkable and ongoing 50-year career, the geographic scope of his practice in photography and film, and his passion for preserving a sense of humanity and dignity through his photographs. A lifelong resident of Philadelphia, Mr. Salzmann is one of the city’s most renowned living photographers. His work has taken him to communities in more than a dozen countries around the globe, his subjects ranging from rural Mexico to urban Turkey, the mountains of Transylvania to the highlands of Peru, New York City to Jerusalem, Cairo to Havana.  

Trained in visual anthropology, Mr. Salzmann is distinct in his conception of art as research, and research as a point of artistic departure. His photographs and films push us to measure our ethical consciousness and to meet his subjects on their own terms, with critical awareness and compassion. They push us to defend those who are vulnerable to ignorance and stereotype, and to transcend cultural and psychological barriers in the protection of human dignity.

Laurence Salzmann: A Life With Others is on view until December 4, 2023. This exhibition is free and open to the public and located in the Goldstein Gallery on the 6th floor of the Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center. Gallery hours are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays. Weekend visits may be arranged by prior appointment: please contact Lynne Farrington, Kislak Center, via email (lynne@pobox.upenn.edu) or phone (215-746-5828).