Architecture critic Mimi Zeiger recently profiled artist and photographer Janna Ireland, who has spent the last two years photographing the buildings of Paul R. Williams as a way to preserve his architectural legacy. Ireland’s work was featured last December as part of the exhibition, “There is Only One Paul R Williams: A Portrait by Janna Ireland”. The exhibition of photographs took a new look at the built legacy of the prolific yet under-appreciated African-American architect, Paul R. Williams.
“It has all of this psychological depth … [Ireland’s photos] don’t simply document the architectural quality of the building but capture the thought that went into making it,” Barbara Bestor says in the Los Angeles times article describing Ireland’s work.
In an intimate and powerful contemplation of a range of Williams’ southern California projects, Ireland’s images provide access to the narratives latent to the creations of a long overlooked genius. Janna Ireland was born in Philadelphia in 1985. She holds an MFA in Photography from UCLA and a BFA from the Department of Photography and Imaging at NYU. Her work has been shown nationally and internationally, including two solo exhibitions at the Schneider Gallery in Chicago and the Tyler Wood Gallery in San Francisco. She was the 2013 recipient of the Snider Prize from the Museum of Contemporary Photography, Columbia College Chicago.
About WUHO
Located on the iconic Hollywood Boulevard Walk of Fame, the Woodbury University Hollywood gallery (WUHO) provides a welcoming space for multi-disciplinary, boundary-crossing collaboration that supports the study and practice of the design disciplines. WUHO is committed to hosting exhibitions that reposition important voices in architecture and design often overlooked by mainstream sources. In a city that notably does not have a permanent architecture collection in any of its major museums, WUHO provides a venue for emerging designers who would not otherwise have an opportunity to publicly display work. Woodbury University has occupied this 7500 square foot storefront and studio space since 1995 and provides free gallery programming throughout the year. The facility is shared with the Los Angeles Forum for Architecture and Urban Design.