Elijah Gowin
Moth Catcher

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Images(2)

Artist Elijah Gowin(American, born 1967)American, born 1967

CultureAmerican

Titles

Moth Catcher

Date1998

MediumGelatin silver print with toning

DimensionsImage: 15 × 15 in. (38.1 × 38.1 cm)
Sheet: 20 × 16 in. (50.8 × 40.6 cm)

Credit LineGift of Mike and Mickey Marvins

Object number2014.943

Not on view

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Department

Photography

Special Collections

Marvins Family Collections

Object Type

PHOTOGRAPHS

DescriptionFor the body of work titled Hymnal of Dreams, Elijah Gowin spent a decade exploring the roots and heritage of his Southern family, transplanted to the northern United States. As the son and frequent subject of the photographer Emmet Gowin, Elijah has a personal familiarity with the photographic presentation of home in richly intimate portraits of family life. Gowin chose to explore his family history by reconstructing found objects to express imagined narratives. He has explained, “A slice of family land in Virginia, nourished by stories of relatives long dead, provides the source for my imagery. In my mind’s eye, this landscape is thick and tangled as are recollections of the place and family I knew as a boy. I want to understand my human connection to this geography as new place; a realm where dreams and memories are given a material presence.”
ProvenanceThe artist; [Houston Center for Photography Print Auction, Houston, 2000, lot 40]; purchased by Michael Marvins and Michele Marvins, Houston; given to MFAH, 2014.
Exhibition History“A Photographer’s Collection: Gifts from Michael and Michele Marvins,” The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, April 4–July 5, 2015.
Inscriptions, Signatures and Marks

Inscribed on sheet verso in pencil: MOTH CATCHER, 1998

Signed in pencil on verso upper left: Elijah Gowin

Cataloguing data may change with further research.

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