Asia Society Texas Center features a new exhibition, Scraping the Sky: Photographs by Vicky Roy.
Vicky Roy's works in this exhibition feature ranges of human industry in radically different environments, and the unceasing drive to build at great heights. In 2009 Roy produced photographs focused on the rebuilding of the World Trade Center in New York, and Asia Society Texas Center will mark the 10th anniversary of Roy's unique views of the city in recovery with a selection of his images from the WTC site. Roy has also spent extensive time in the Himalayas, capturing the built environments of the area, notable for the range of high-altitude architecture made with extremely limited raw materials. Roy compares these differing approaches to building and engineering, and asks us to consider their environmental impacts.
This exhibition is free and open to the public.
Hours
Tuesday – Friday, 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Saturday – Sunday, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Closed Mondays.
Photography
Photography of the exhibition without flash is permitted.
Originally from West Bengal, India, Vicky Roy ran away as a child from his home and started working as a rag picker at the New Delhi Railway Station. After participating in skills-building programs for children living on the streets run by the Salaam Baalak Trust in Delhi, he studied photography at Triveni Kala Sangam and then apprenticed under Anay Mann. In 2007, he held his first solo exhibition titled Street Dream at the India Habitat Centre in Delhi, which was supported by the British High Commission.
Vicky Roy's first monograph Home Street Home published by the Nazar Foundation (New Delhi, India) was released at the second edition of the Delhi Photo Festival (2013). His solo show This Scarred Land: New Mountainscapes was exhibited at Vadehra Art Gallery, New Delhi, India in 2017. He was a part of Houston FotoFest Biennial and Kochi Muziris Biennale, both in 2018. Roy was awarded the MIT Media Fellowship in 2014, and was included on the Forbes Asia 30 under 30 list in 2016.
vickyroy.in
Street shooter: Photographer Vicky Roy's new exhibition captures striking shots of the Himalayas (India Today)
A dream to fly (TEDx Talk, Hindi language)
HOUSTON, July 23, 2019 — Asia Society Texas Center (ASTC) welcomes photographer Vicky Roy for his ASTC debut in Scraping the Sky: Photographs by Vicky Roy. The photos showcase humanity’s unceasing drive to build at great heights by juxtaposing two extremes of architecture: building in the Himalayas and reconstructing the World Trade Center.
Never before shown in the U.S., the Himalayan photos reveal an architectural style and building process most people will never see: how structures can be built with such limited raw materials, in tremendously challenging conditions, and yet how residents are determined to thrive at the “roof of the world.” These photos evoke both the natural beauty of the Himalayas but also the human aspiration to occupy the region and sustain life at such extreme temperatures and heights, despite the environmental cost.
Roy’s World Trade Center photos have never been seen outside NYC, and they mark the 10th anniversary of this series, in which he was one of only four photographers selected to photo-document the massive reconstruction project, a pivotal moment in American history. As with the Himalayan photos, these shots also evoke the challenge of height and a human sense of determination and resolve, to rebuild a building that has such symbolism in society, both in the U.S. and around the world. Roy’s photos pay homage to many constituents: those who built the original building, as well as the victims of 9/11, their families, and those who planned and worked on the reconstructed World Trade Center.
“There’s a long history of exhibiting the work of photographers from Asia in Houston, and we are delighted to contribute to that history by sharing these impressive black-and-white series by Vicky Roy” says Bridget Bray, ASTC’s Nancy C. Allen Curator and Director of Exhibitions. “He travels and gains access to places many of us can never see, and these rare projects at the World Trade Center and in the Himalayan mountains demonstrate that.”
Roy is a star on the rise; he was named to Forbes’ Asia 30 Under 30 list in 2016 and is a two-time TEDx speaker. A native of India who grew up in poverty and learned photography from an intervention program for New Delhi street children, Roy has become one of the most in-demand photographers of his generation. His work has been seen in San Diego, Hong Kong, London, Switzerland, Johannesburg, Athens, NYC, New Delhi, Kolkata, and Mumbai, among others.
Roy’s first exhibition at Asia Society appears in ASTC’s Fayez Sarofim Grand Hall and is free to all visitors.
Fast Facts
- Exhibition dates: Saturday, August 10 — Sunday, August 18, 2019
- Admission: Free
- Hours: Tuesday – Friday, 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.; Saturday – Sunday, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
This exhibition is organized by Asia Society Texas Center. Exhibitions at Asia Society Texas Center are presented by Nancy C. Allen and Leslie and Brad Bucher. Major support comes from Chinhui Juhn and Eddie Allen and Mary Lawrence Porter, as well as The Brown Foundation, Inc., Houston Endowment, and the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance. Generous funding also provided by The Anchorage Foundation of Texas, The Clayton Fund, Texas Commission on the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, Wortham Foundation, Inc., the Franci Neely Foundation, Olive Jenney, and Ann Wales. Additional support comes from United Airlines and The Southmore. Funding is also provided through contributions from the Exhibitions Patron Circle, a dedicated group of individuals and organizations committed to bringing exceptional visual art to Asia Society Texas Center.
Artist Talk: Vicky Roy
Sunday, September 15, 2019 | 1:15 p.m. Reception, 2 p.m. Artist Talk
Monthly Tours
Saturday, October 12, 3 p.m.
To schedule a group tour outside of these designated days, please fill out the form below or contact Jennifer Kapral, Director of Education & Outreach, at JKapral@AsiaSociety.org.
School Tours
School tours, facilitated by the education department staff and volunteers, provide educationally rich interactive opportunities for students to learn about Asian art, culture, and traditions. These free tours are open to all public, private, charter, alternative, and home schools. Visits take place on weekdays, Tuesday through Friday, for one to two hours.
All school tours and subsequent interactive projects are tethered to the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) and district curriculum standards. They may include:
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Docent-led tour of exhibitions in the Louisa Stude Sarofim Gallery, the Fayez Sarofim Grand Hall, and the North Gallery
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"Introduction to Asia” PowerPoint Presentation highlighting essential information about Asian art, culture, geography, and politics
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Guided tour of the Texas Center and discussion of its unique architecture
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Interactive projects based on the current exhibition (unavailable during summer months, June through August)
At least two weeks’ notice is required for school tours. Additional advance notice is required for groups larger than 25.
For more information, please contact Jennifer Kapral, Director of Education & Outreach, at JKapral@AsiaSociety.org.
This exhibition is organized by Asia Society Texas Center. Exhibitions at Asia Society Texas Center are presented by Nancy C. Allen and Leslie and Brad Bucher. Major support comes from Chinhui Juhn and Eddie Allen and Mary Lawrence Porter, as well as The Brown Foundation, Inc., Houston Endowment, and the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance. Generous funding also provided by The Anchorage Foundation of Texas, The Clayton Fund, Texas Commission on the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, Wortham Foundation, Inc., the Franci Neely Foundation, Olive Jenney, and Ann Wales. Additional support comes from United Airlines and The Southmore. Funding is also provided through contributions from the Exhibitions Patron Circle, a dedicated group of individuals and organizations committed to bringing exceptional visual art to Asia Society Texas Center.
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