Dona Ann McAdams: Timeless Agitprop Work

By John R. Killacky

       In her photography, social documentarian Dona Ann McAdams focuses on the particularity of a place and the innate humanity of the people in that locale. Her latest book, Black Box: A Photographic Memoir (Saint Lucy Books), chronicles her stellar 50-year career, beautifully reproducing 107 pictures as well as serving up interesting backstories.

      I’ve known the artist for over forty years. In the 1980s I attended performances at P.S. 122, the seminal venue for avant-garde performance in New York. Often, I would notice her, off to the side, seated on the floor, taking photographs with a Leica camera.

      McAdams enlivens her new book with stories about some of the artists of that era, including Eileen Myles, Meredith Monk, Karen Finley, and David Wojnarowicz - a body of work that won her Obie and Bessie Awards.

As important as her performance work, the volume offers her adroitly shot images of queer liberation, ACT UP, antinuclear, and pro-choice protests — agitprop work that is of its time, but timeless.

      In 1998, McAdams and her husband, writer Brad Kessler, moved to Vermont where they raise American Nubian goats. She then focused on neighboring farmers and their work animals and has been documenting workers on the backstretch of the Saratoga Race Course.

      This summer I visited the McAdams’ farm and directed a mini-documentary on her artistic practice in conjunction with the publication of her memoir and upcoming companion exhibition at Pratt Institute’s Manhattan Gallery, April 18 – June 7.