40 x 50 cm
The works of Philip-Lorca diCorcia oscillate between two possible definitions of photography – from a recording system in the tradition of documentary and a system of representation in the tradition of fiction. The use of different contradictory light sources in the same picture is symptomatic of his staging of reality. In Napoli 1996 a man walking down the street in broad daylight is fictionalized by the flash of the camera. Related to the world of cinema in the case of “Hollywood” (1990-1992), fashion in the series “W” (1997-2000), and advertising, the photographer questions the representation of reality, between the utopia of transparency and necessary construction. “I try to criticize the beast I work with. This monster of whom I share my bed with is about me,” the artist says. His photographs are a space alien in the world of the viewer because of the absorbance of characters. In “Mario” (1978), a man leaning in front of a refrigerator is estranged to the outside world, far from the viewer, denying his/her presence. Immobility is also a constant in the artist’s work. Psychological tension and dramatical equilibrium structure his photographs like enigmas or like “moments suspended in narratives that unfold,” as critic Peter Galassi suggests. Phillip-Lorca diCorcia was born in 1951 in Hartford, Connecticut, USA.
Forest Gathering N.2 is part of the series of photographs Beneath the Roses (2003-2005) where anonymous townscapes, forest clearings and broad, desolate streets are revealed as sites of mystery and wonder; similarly, ostensibly banal interiors become the staging grounds for strange human scenarios...
For the past two decades, An-My Lê has used photography to examine her personal history and the legacies of US military power, probing the tension between experience and storytelling....
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In 1977, as an already-established artist best known for his films, Bruce Conner began to photograph punk rock shows at Mabuhay Gardens, a San Francisco club and music venue...
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Video: Catherine Opie on photographing leading British artists | Blog | Royal Academy of Arts Catherine Opie in the RA Collection Gallery Video: Catherine Opie on photographing leading British artists Read more Become a Friend Video: Catherine Opie on photographing leading British artists Published 8 September 2023 Catherine Opie discusses her portraits of David Hockney, Anish Kapoor, Gillian Wearing, Isaac Julien and Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, featured in our free display in the Collection Gallery...
Catherine Opie’s candid photograph Cathy (bed Self-portrait) (1987) shows the artist atop a bed wearing a negligee and a dildo; the latter is attached to a whip that she holds in her teeth...
Although best known as a provocateur and portraitist, Opie also photographs landscapes, cityscapes, and architecture...
In this work, a woman sits on a couch with her shirt pulled up to expose her pierced nipples, which are connected by a chain...
Like many of Opie’s works, Mike and Sky presents female masculinity to defy a binary understanding of gender...