The very first thing Judith Ellis Glickman suggests during our interview is that if USM students would like, she’d be happy to do some guided-walk-throughs of her upcoming exhibit.
This is something that would be impossible from the current exhibitor, the late Frank Llyod Wright to consider. Thankfully, Judith Ellis Glickman is full of life, and happens to live right around the corner.
Frank Llyod Wright will be replaced this week at the Portland Museum of Art, ushering in a show that will host photography from both sides of the country, spanning the century and several categories of subject matter. “Both Sides of the Camera: Photographs from the Collection of Judith Ellis Glickman,” opens this week at the PMA.
Instead of focusing on photos taken by Glickman, this show does something different; something refreshing and just as telling of the artist.
“The image is very revealing of the photographer, as well as the subject matter. And I think the collection is too,” Glickman said. The show is her personal collection of photography, not specific to any one theme or period. It begins with “Both sides,” work by Glickman’s father, photographer Irving Bennett Ellis, in which Judith as a little girl is the subject matter.
The show goes on to showcase Glickman’s collection. “The Celebrity Section,” shows glamour from the 1930s and 40s; artists in their studios and musicians; there’s even one of Jimmy Morrison of The Doors by an early, very experimental Californian photographer using solarization.
Glickman is no stranger to the art world, boasting a resume of over 200 one-woman exhibits all over the world; from Paris to Omaha, Nebraska. But she is also no stranger to southern Maine. Having lived in Cape Elizabeth year-round for 23 years, she has developed a kinship with the place, and with USM.
In 1997, USM’s Albert Brenner Glickman Family Library was named in recognition of the Glickman’s generosity and vision for southern Maine. Judith and husband, Al, gave more than $1 million in gifts to the USM Portland Campus Library. And it’s no coincidence that the fifth floor of that building is home to the stunning Aperture collection, containing hundreds of photography books. Who’s behind that? Mrs. Glickman.
Her eagerness to reach out and to educate is apparent in the community. A few weeks ago, she opened an exhibit on the Holocaust at University of Maine at Augusta, the next day, she was at Southern Maine Community College and the Portland Harbor Museum giving a talk and sharing her photographs of Casco Bay for historical and artistic purposes.
Continuing in her well roundedness, she will be focusing on the exhibit this week, and its opening night on Oct. 25-but also on two books recently published. One is the catalogue of the show, put together by the show’s curator Susan Danly , a gem of a book “that will be submitted for awards,” Judith noted, much to the pleasure of the PMA community.
It is also the week that another book comes out, one Glickman has dreamed of publishing for twenty years. For The Love of It: Photography of Irving Brenner Ellis is a product of both her own writing and Danly’s art history perspective. It’s a commemorative piece of her father’s life and work, something she has been working up to for years which is now coming to fruition.
It’s an exciting time for Judith. She’s glowing these days, and one suspects you can’t keep this girl down. She’s hoping the exhibit draws attendance from the community she holds so dear.
“There’s humor, and there’s human interest, sensuality, photojournalism (and) history. I think people are going to find a lot of interest. I want people to see the breath and the interest that photography has to offer. I hope this show will grab people.”