The Blaffer Art Museum at the University of Houston is proud to present the first museum survey exhibition of distinguished Houston-born artist and photographer Pam Francis (1954-2020).
Pam Francis Photographs will be presented in the Joanne Guest Wilson Gallery of the Blaffer Art Museum, 120 Fine Arts Building on the University of Houston campus, April 19–26. Museum hours are Tuesday – Friday, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.; and Saturday and Sunday, noon – 5 p.m. Admission is free.
Pam Francis Photographs spans Francis’ art practice from 1987-2020, assembling over 100 photographs and collecting artifacts including the artist’s camera, selected slides, contact sheets, CDs, films, and ephemera.
As one of the top editorial and portrait photographers in Texas, Francis photographed CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather, Oscar Wyatt and Texas Lt. Governor William “Bill” Hobby, Jr. for the covers of Texas Monthly.
By 2001, she served as chief photographer for the Houston Texans “Got Tickets” billboard campaigns, which included iconic images of Lyle Lovett, members of Destiny’s Child, Dusty Hill and Frank Beard of ZZ Top, Roger Clemens, and President George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush.
Destiny’s Child: Kelly Rowland, Beyonce Knowles-Carter, and Michelle Williams, 2001. © Pam Francis
While Francis’ portraits have appeared on the covers of Texas Monthly, Time, Business Week, XXL, Source, and Sports Illustrated, her work has not yet had the critical attention to be comprehensively studied and celebrated.
To view some of her more memorable photos of celebrities, athletes, musicians, politicians and actors, go to www.pamfrancis.com.
Christine Starkman, Guest Curator of the exhibition worked closely with Steven Matijcio, Jane Dale Owen Director and Chief Curator at the Blaffer Art Museum, in selecting the works for the exhibition and the catalog.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a full-color catalogue designed by Miko McGinty, and printed by Trifolio in Verona, Italy, and will be available in April 2022. This is the first monograph dedicated to the work of Francis, and it will feature essays by Teresa Hubbard, William and Bettye Nowlin Professor in Photography at the University of Texas at Austin, Keliy Anderson-Staley, Associate Professor of Photography and Digital Media at the University of Houston, and Britt Thomas, interdisciplinary artist and lecturer at Sam Houston State University, as well as eleven interviews conducted by Christine Starkman.
Tim Duncan, 1998. © Pam Francis
