Stacy Kranitz: Ain’t No Grave Gonna Hold My Body Down at The Contemporary Dayton presents the culmination of a landmark multi-year project that challenges long-held stereotypes of Appalachia. On view from September 25, 2026, through January 23, 2027, the exhibition brings together more than 40 photographs drawn from historical archives, Kranitz’s own images, historical texts, installations and an accompanying film. Born in Kentucky and based in the Appalachian Mountains of eastern Tennessee, Kranitz is the recipient of a Pulitzer Prize and a Guggenheim Fellowship, among many other awards.
The exhibition examines how Appalachia has been represented—and misrepresented—across generations. Kranitz’s work confronts a visual history in which the region has often been reduced to caricatures of poverty, addiction and backwardness. Her photographs complicate that narrative, revealing a region shaped by myth, exploitation, resilience and the uneasy tension between representation and reality. The title references the gospel song “Ain’t No Grave,” made famous by Johnny Cash, evoking the resilience and resistance that run throughout the project.
Kranitz’s practice moves between documentary and collaboration, often working closely with the people she photographs. Her images do not claim to offer a single truth about Appalachia. Instead, they present a set of encounters in which dignity, vulnerability and complexity coexist. The inclusion of historical materials underscores how earlier representations continue to shape contemporary perceptions, while Kranitz’s own photographs offer a counter-archive built on sustained engagement rather than extraction.
Recipient of the prestigious Images Vevey Book Award, Kranitz has published a companion monograph, available for purchase in The Contemporary Dayton’s CoSHOP. The exhibition is part of the 2026 FotoFocus Biennial: The Long View, now in its eighth iteration, which activates over 70 exhibitions at museums, galleries, universities and public spaces throughout Greater Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus and Northern Kentucky. At The Contemporary Dayton, Ain’t No Grave functions as both a regional portrait and a broader meditation on how photography can reinforce or resist the stories we tell about place and people.
Image: Stacy Kranitz, Pine Mountain, 2016, archival pigment print, 16 x 24 inches. Courtesy of the artist.
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