Everybody has secrets, and some people keep theirs hidden in plain sight. Happiness, confidence, creativity, intelligence – these are traits of a healthy and stable individual, but can also be defense mechanisms to mask feelings of pain, isolation, and confusion. In the presence of drugs and alcohol our masks either become more convincing or dissolve away, creating further strains in our relationships with others and with ourselves. Lisa Kereszi’s Facing Addiction: Looking at Drugs and Alcohol in People’s Lives is a series of black and white photographs taken in the mid-1990s that call attention to the secret realities of people’s lives that bubble to the surface after they’ve partaken in “things to bring them up or calm them down, to get them in gear or to loosen them up, to make them think, perhaps, or to not think at all” (Kereszi artist statement). Often when visitors see these works at Dikeou Collection they will say, “That person looks familiar,” or “Hey I think I know that guy,” illuminating the fact that we do all recognize the signs or know someone living with the [not so] secret struggle of addiction.

The eight photographs from Facing Addiction on view at Dikeou Collection depict people at parties, typically with a bottle of booze and cigarette in hand. Some folks appear festive, like the woman gleefully spouting the last drop of beer from the keg, but most appear downright miserable like “Jess at a Party, VT.” These are not the party photos we are accustomed to seeing on Facebook or Instagram of good times and happy faces – these are images of people doing what they can to put the day behind them and get through the night. Kereszi’s perspective is of that friend sitting with you at the bar, ready to either order another shot or call a cab home. She connects with the people she photographs, talks to them and takes their picture while they share their stories. Her approach in creating a dialog with people while photographing them results in intimate portraits with emotional vulnerability. In this series, the masks come off.

Lisa Kereszi was born and raised in Philadelphia where her father ran the family auto junkyard and her mother who owned an antique shop. In 1995 she graduated from Bard College with a Bachelor of Arts. Kereszi examines what some may consider “fringe” lifestyles and forgotten and abandoned spaces, reminding viewers of the existence of people and places that society has forgotten or ignored. She now teaches photography and is the Director of Undergraduate Studies in Art at the Yale School of Art, where she received her MFA in 2000. Lisa’s work has been featured in four issues of zingmagazine, including current issue 24 with her project “The More I Know About Women.” On March 16, in honor of Denver’s Month of Photography, Lisa will give a free public talk at Dikeou Collection. Her husband Benjamin Donaldson, who also lectures at Yale University, will speak as well. Following their individual short lectures, Lisa and Ben will be accompanied by Denver Art Museum’s Curator of Photography, Eric Paddock, for an engaging group conversation. More information about this event can be found on our calendar.

-Hayley Richardson