Art Faculty members Amundson and Gour join group exhibition at Pace University Gallery in NYC

Faculty members Garth Amundson and Pierre Gour have been invited to participate in a group exhibition with several celebrated artists at Pace University Gallery in NYC. Opening June 11, 2026, "Retold: Altered Photography," is a small group exhibition featuring artists whose work engages photographic manipulation as a means of examining ideas of truth, authorship, and representation. Amundson and Gour are leading the Metro Art Access: NYC class in the city, and will tour the exhibition with the curators and WWU students.

The exhibition features the work of six contemporary artists: Nouf Aljowaysir, Garth Amundson, Pierre Gour, Juyon Lee, Negin Mahzoun, and Wendel A. White. The artists use photographic alteration to reclaim and reframe personal narratives and social histories, challenging photography’s authority as a neutral record.

The Pace University Gallery will host a free public reception on Thursday, June 11, 2026 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Garth and Pierre

Garth Amundson and Pierre Gour work as a collaborative team, their work explores the perceptions and politics surrounding the domestic sphere and identity. Using collage and photo-scanning techniques,  they speak metaphorically about social construction. Some of their work is literal collaboration, and at other times, they serve one another in a support role. Amundson holds an MFA from Syracuse University and Gour from the UNM. Their work has been exhibited in South Korea, Spain, Sweden and throughout North America. They have completed several residency programs; Sculpture Space in NY, Cimelice Castle near Prague, Fundación Valparaíso in Spain, Lademoen in Norway, Bellagio Rockefeller Center in Italy, and a Fulbright in Mexico. Both are members of the Western Washington University Department of Art and Art History faculty.

Meaning shaped by manipulated photos

"Retold: Altered Photography" is presented as part of three exhibitions exploring how photographic meaning is shaped by manipulation, from analog newsroom edits to contemporary digital practices. The interrelated shows—"Retold: Altered Photography," "Cut and Paste," and "Open for Interpretation" were inspired by historic newsroom prints from the George Stephanopoulos Collection at Pace that retain visible marks of manual editing, including pen lines, white‑out, and incisions. Created in the mid-20th century, these alterations reflect editorial judgment and the technical constraints of newspaper production, shaping interpretation while meeting the demands of reproduction and layout.

For contemporary audiences accustomed to digital manipulation and fully fabricated images, these analog edits appear strikingly overt. Yet their transparency reveals a foundational truth: photographs have always been shaped, edited, and constructed. Removed from their original context, these images prompt renewed attention to what is revealed or omitted in producing visual meaning.

The exhibitions are curated by by Sarah Cunningham, Art Gallery Director and Associate Clinical Professor, with Roger Sayre, Professor and Associate Chair of the Art Department at Pace University.

Image: Garth Amundson and Pierre Gour, "Not the Whole Picture: Alice", 2020, Color prints and thread