Timothy Duffy: Blue Muse at New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA), April 25 – July 28, 2019

“The New Orleans Museum of Art (NOMA) presents Timothy Duffy: Blue Muse. Using a photography process invented in the United States in the nineteenth-century, Timothy Duffy creates masterful one-of-a-kind tintype portraits of American musicians, preserving the faces of American roots music for future generations.

Featuring artists from the American South, including local New Orleans legends such as Alabama Slim, Little Freddie King, and Pat “Mother Blues” Cohen, NOMA’s premier of Blue Muse will feature 30 of Duffy’s original unique tintypes. In order to give these underrepresented cultural figures even greater visibility, Blue Muse will also include an outdoor component in which the museum will partner with a number of local sites to install enormous images on buildings around New Orleans, introducing the public to these musicians.” — NOMA

“Tim Duffy’s choice of the tintype aligns with a distinctly American history of photography, while his subjects represent one of the most important legacies in the United States,” said Susan Taylor, NOMA’s Montine McDaniel Freeman Director. “His work to preserve this part of southern culture is monumentally important. We look forward to sharing it with the city of New Orleans.”

Timothy Duffy (American, born 1963). Ironing Board Sam, 9th Wonder of the World, Hillsboro, NC, 2015. Tintype, 14 x 14 in. © Timothy Duffy 2019 

Timothy Duffy (American, born 1963). Lil’ Joe Burton, Augusta, GA, 2015. Tintype, 14 x 14 in. © Timothy Duffy 2019 

Timothy Duffy (American, born 1963). Captain Luke, Departure, Winston-Salem, NC, 2015. Tintype, 14 x 14 in. © Timothy Duffy 2019 

Timothy Duffy (American, born 1963.) John Dee Holeman, Hillsboro, NC, 2015. Tintype, 14 x 14 in. © Timothy Duffy 2019 

Timothy Duffy (American, born 1963). Pat Cohen, Bourbon Street Queen, Hillsboro, NC, 2015. Tintype, 10 x 14 in. © Timothy Duffy 2019

Timothy Duffy (American, born 1963). Boot Hanks, Hillsboro, NC, 2015. Tintype, 14 x 14 in. © Timothy Duffy 2019

Timothy Duffy (American, born 1963). Freeman Vines No. 2, Fountain, NC, 2015. Tintype, 14 x 14 in. © Timothy Duffy 2019

Timothy Duffy (American, born 1963). Alabama Slim No. 2, Hillsboro, NC, 2015. Tintype, 14 x 14 in. © Timothy Duffy 2019

Timothy Duffy (American, born 1963). Alabama Slim, Hillsboro, NC, 2015. Tintype, 14 x 14 in. © Timothy Duffy 2019

Timothy Duffy (American, born 1963). Little Freddie King, New Orleans, LA, 2014. Tintype, 4.5 x 6.5 in. © Timothy Duffy 2019

Timothy Duffy (American, born 1963). Robert Finley at Home, Bernice, LA, 2016. Tintype, 9 x 9 in. © Timothy Duffy 2019

Timothy Duffy (American, born 1963). Freeman Vines No. 3, Fountain, NC, 2016. Tintype, 9 x 9 in. © Timothy Duffy 2019

Timothy Duffy (American, born 1963). Drink Small, Columbia, SC, 2016. Tintype, 9 x 9 in. © Timothy Duffy 2019

Timothy Duffy (American, born 1963). Boat, Lake D’Arbonne, Farmerville, LA, 2016. Tintype, 9 x 9 in. © Timothy Duffy 2019

Duffy’s tintypes are an artful extension of his other occupation, as founder and Executive Director of the Music Maker Relief Foundation, which provides support and promotion for Southern American musicians. “In making these photographs, in compelling us to pay attention, look closer, know their faces, and learn their names, Duffy has enlisted one American tradition, the tintype, in the service of securing another,” Said Russell Lord, NOMA’s Freeman Family Curator of Photographs.

Timothy Duffy: Blue Muse is organized by the New Orleans Museum of Art.

Images courtesy New Orleans Museum of Art.