BENTONVILLE, ARK.- On May 11, 2024, the Momentary opened Kristine Potter: Dark Waters, an exhibition of richly detailed black-and-white photographs inspired by the enigmatic terrain surrounding bodies of water that bear names of violence in the American South: places like “Murder Creek,” “Deadman’s Branch,” and “Bloody Fork.” The series of photographs, complemented by a video and sound installation, unravels the deeply held associations between land and a history of violence in this area of the nation.

Kristine Potter: Dark Waters is accompanied by Potter’s second monograph, co-published by the Momentary and Aperture, which continues the artist’s engagement with the American landscape as a palimpsest for cultural ideologies. The exhibition is curated by Sarah Meister, executive director at Aperture; Alejo Benedetti, curator of contemporary art at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and the Momentary; and Elise Raborg, curatorial associate of contemporary art at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and the Momentary.

Threaded throughout this series of photographs are Potter’s references to murder ballads – a genre of traditional folk songs in which women are often menaced or killed by men in rivers and forests. Still performed and recorded today, these songs mirror the many similar stories we find in present-day films, television series, and true crime podcasts. These cultural expressions have become the backing track for the South, tinting the way people perceive the region.

At the heart of this work is an acknowledgement that narratives of violence against women are a substantial part of cultural consumption. “I’m interested in the ways in which our experience of place is informed by our culture and by the stories we tell ourselves about who we are,” said Potter.

The photographs in Dark Waters shift fluidly between documentary realism and conceptually staged images. This intentional shift in photographic language reflects the experience of women who occupy the liminal space between the real and the envisioned – a realm of constant vigilance and exposed fragility. Together, the exhibition’s video, photographs, and sound installation present beauty, allure, and peril, all the while underscoring the enduring impact of cultural narratives and myths on our perception of place.

“At its core, Dark Waters is engaged with our collective understanding of the South,” said Benedetti. “Kristine Potter’s works are mysterious entries into an all too familiar story. There is beauty, fear, and an enduring sense that we’re teetering between reality and fiction in every work. The Momentary always strives to present exhibitions that inspire guests to experience their world in new ways, and Dark Waters does this brilliantly, by foregrounding this region and the impacts of its lasting histories. We look forward to sharing this exhibition with our community and beyond.”

“In developing this publication and presentation with the Momentary and the artist, we are shaping complementary expressions of Kristine Potter’s Dark Waters,” said Meister. “We hope that many audiences, whether by looking over the images and texts in the book, or by moving through the exhibition, are inspired by the possibilities that the power and democratic spirit of photography can put forward.”

Kristine Potter: Dark Waters is on view at the Momentary from May 11 through October 13, 2024. The exhibition is free and open to the public.

Kristine Potter (born in Dallas, 1977) is an artist based in Nashville. She holds an MFA from Yale University, and her awards include a Guggenheim Fellowship (2018) and the Grand Prix Images Vevey (2019–20). Potter is currently an assistant professor of photography at Middle Tennessee State University.