Photographs of Morocco at the UCLA Fowler Museum

From the Fowler Museum Press Release:

"Liminal Spaces: Photographs of Morocco" by Rose-Lynn Fisher
September 17, 2006 to January 14, 2007

In 1995 and again in 1998, photographer Rose-Lynn Fisher traveled extensively throughout Morocco. There she observed a way of life infused with faith and humor, where the thinnest of membranes at once seemed to separate and to unite the realms of the visible and the invisible. ‘Liminal Spaces: Photographs of Morocco by Rose-Lynn Fisher,’ on display at the Fowler Museum at UCLA from September 17, 2006 through January 14, 2007, features forty-eight black-and-white photographs that explore the theme of the “liminal,” the sensory threshold that exists in social interactions, physical spaces, and desert and urban settings.

According to Fisher, the intensity of Morocco lies in the constant juxtaposition of contrasting elements: “Oasis villages materializing out of the clear horizon. Dark, narrow passageways opening into spacious bright, cool interiors. At unexpected points of intersection were city gates linking one century to another, game shows on TVs hooked up to generators in villages otherwise lacking electricity, and former nomads who opened hotels and created desert adventures for nomadic tourists.”

In addition to featuring numerous scenes of Moroccans of varying ages and backgrounds, Fisher’s photographs suggest the liminal spaces that exist in architecture, daily life, and states of mind. Images of gateways, shrines, cemeteries, wells, mosques, and synagogues invite viewers to consider the notion of “in-betweeness” in physical as well as metaphysical contexts. Actions such as preparing for the Sabbath, embarking on pilgrimages, Muslims reminiscing about their former Jewish neighbors, or visiting a place whose purpose has been redefined, mark transitions between the mundane and the sacred, and the past and the present.

Rose-Lynn Fisher is a Los Angeles-based photographer, digital artist, and mixed-media painter. She earned her BFA from Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles. Her photographs and paintings have been exhibited in museums and galleries throughout the United States and abroad, including the Bermuda National Gallery; Skirball Museum, Los Angeles; United Nations Headquarters, New York; Jewish Museum, New York; Jewish Museum, Vienna; Gallery of Contemporary Art, Umm el-Fahm, Israel; and the Chicago Cultural Center. Her work is included in numerous permanent collections.

‘Liminal Spaces: Photographs of Morocco by Rose-Lynn Fisher’ will be on view in the Fowler Museum’s Goldenberg Galleria. Fisher’s work is sponsored by Hahnemühle FineArt; Piezography Inks at InkjetMall.com; Crescent Cardboard Company, producer of RagMat; and Kodak Professional.