In Vogue I, August 1997-January 1998
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, “Windows on Wilshire” Series
curated by Howard Fox
four electrostatically-printed photographic cut-outs
2 windows, 96″ x 138″
These two window installations, In Vogue I and In Vogue II, were created for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s “Windows on Wilshire” series. These works were installed on August 7th, 1997 and were exhibited through January 1998.
For my two installations, I created four large electrostatically-printed photographic cut-outs. The title of the two windows, In Vogue, has several references. The former May Company department store used these windows to present the very latest in fashion choices. The viewer, seeing these spaces in their new museum context, discover that the examples of ideal beauty upon which he or she measure him/herself are here drawn from art history instead of the usual fashion showroom. Similarly, what is popular in the world of art, like the world of fashion, seems to change every few months, like the store windows themselves.
Michelangelo’s David and Botticelli’s Venus, each seven feet tall and in “living” color, represent the ideal physiology in paint and sculpture, while simultaneously presenting themselves as commercially produced cutouts. They tower above, but in relation to, the ordinary man and woman, each less than six feet tall, in black and white, drawn from popular magazines. These “ordinary people” stand in for us, their backs facing the street, while we the real viewers, walk or drive by outside the window.