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Photos by Jonathan Hollingsworth

November 19, 2005 - January 20, 2006
Reception event: Saturday, November 19, 6 - 8:30pm
1639 18th Street, Santa Monica

18th Street Arts Center presents the photo exhibit, "What We Think Now," by Jonathan Hollingsworth, November 19, 2005 - January 20, 2006 at 18th Street Arts Center, 1639 18th Street, Santa Monica. The reception will be Saturday, November 19, 6-8:30pm. The show opens and runs simultaneously with the group art show, "TransFOURmations" curated by Pat Gomez. Both exhibitions are supported by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.?

John Hollingsworth (Artist): "What We Think Now" is a series of photographs exploring young people's thoughts on the U.S. invasion of Iraq. In each picture the subjects, all 30 and under, were asked to compose statements encapsulating their point of view on any facet of the war. This text was then incorporated into the photographs. "I wanted to create work which expressed the ideas of individuals, relying solely on their words."

"I executed the project to give my generation a voice, and in doing so, captured the confusion of the nation. In what other American war has rhetoric been so masterfully used to supplant reason with emotion?" The project is local to California: "I aimed to record as many differing opinions as possible from varying demographics, which led to shoots in Los Angeles, Orange County, Palmdale, Berkeley and San Francisco." Although the piece started as a 10-image series, Hollingsworth explains that the project is far from finished, "It might be a long time before we can afford to stop talking about the decision to invade and remake a nation."

Jonathan Hollingsworth earned a BA in English from Northwestern University and studied photography at Otis College of Art and Design. He has exhibited at galleries throughout Los Angeles.

18th Street programs are supported by the James Irvine Foundation, California Community Foundation, Trust for Mutual Understanding, National Endowmwnt for the Arts, Santa Monica City Cultural Affairs Division, L.A. County Arts Commission, National Endowment for the Arts, Dana Foundation, J. Paul Getty Grant Program, and others.

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