Deana Lawson
photographer
Deana Lawson is an American artist and photographer based in Brooklyn, New York. She received her B.F.A. from Pennsylvania State University and her M.F.A. from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in 2004. Her work is primarily concerned with intimacy, family, spirituality, sexuality, and Black aesthetics. Lawson's photography is known for its meticulous staging, intimate composition, and attention to black cultural symbols, often transforming everyday domestic spaces into theatrical environments. She has been recognized as a significant artist of her generation, receiving prestigious awards including the Hugo Boss Prize in 2020 and the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize in 2022.
Themes
- African diaspora
- Black aesthetics
- intimacy
- spirituality
- domesticity
Books
No books found.
Works by Deana Lawson
- Deana Lawson: An Aperture Monograph 2018 · Aperture · book · English ISBN 9781597114226 Features forty color images and an essay by Zadie Smith.
Exhibitions
- 2021 The Hugo Boss Prize 2020: Deana Lawson, Centropy Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York solo
- 2014 Deana Lawson: Mother Tongue Rhona Hoffman Gallery, Chicago solo
- 2020 Deana Lawson: Centropy Kunsthalle Basel, Basel solo
Awards
- 2020 Hugo Boss Prize Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
- 2022 Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize The Photographers' Gallery
References
- Deana Lawson. Wikipedia. 2026 link