The Unchosen Ones
The Unchosen Ones: Portraits of an American Pastoral
Photography by R. J. Kern
April 18 - June 24, 2023
“The more time I spend with young people growing up on farms and the more I learn about their plans for their futures, the more enthusiastic I am to use the tools I understand, pixels and light, to carry their stories and experiences to a broader audience.” — R. J. Kern
The Unchosen Ones began on the sidelines of county fair animal contests in Minnesota in 2016 where R. J. Kern photographed fair participants and their non-winning animals. The exhibit encompasses a series of portraits of young people posing with the animals they have raised, cared for, and groomed for entry into a best animal competition, with dreams of the glory of moving on to State Fair victory. No victory is shown here, however. These animals and their young owners were not deemed champions; they came in second or third or not at all. Here, on the sidelines of the main events, these disappointed children and their beloved animals illustrate a small backstory, preserving a moment of failure, loss, love, and hope, as only photography can.
The Unchosen Ones continued beyond the initial project and between 2016 and 2021 Kern re-photographed many of his subjects. In some cases, the animal and its handler are photographed together again. In other cases, the child moved on and replaced the animal with some new pursuit; a tractor, a chicken, a fishing pole. Once a series about the love, pride, joy, and disappointment that comes with being passed over, The Unchosen Ones is now a record of the original sitters choosing how they will live the next part of their lives.
About the artist
R. J. Kern (b. 1978) is an American artist whose work investigates ideas of home, ancestry, and a sense of place. His portraits focus on intimate, interdependent relationships of people, animals, and landscape as a means of exploring how ancestry shapes identity and how myth intertwines with personal history. His camera has led him from an inquiry into his lineage in the farming communities of Scandinavia and Ireland to the examination of similar communities near his home in Minnesota. Increasingly, his attention has been captured by the next generation of young people, who may or may not be the stewards of rural communities and economies in the future.
- EventsSecond Saturday | June 10, 2023
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- Credits
Top image: Hannah, Pastoral Study, 2020. Image courtesy: R. J. Kern
Funding for this season of programming is provided through the generous support of Deb and Dave Engle, Caroline and John Linehan, Suzanne Sugg, the OSU President’s Office | OSU Foundation, Thomas N. Berry & Company, and the OSU Museum of Art Advocates.