Louise Lawler
Why Pictures Now [link] (through July 30th, 2017)
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Thirty years after her first show at MoMA, Louise Lawler continues to challenge the notions of authenticity, authorship and judgement by revealing the mechanics of art and its reception. The strategies of multiplication using mass culture, titling, cropping and reframing are still present, however in “Why Pictures Now” the show’s title not only serves as a supplemental mirror image of art in the age of digital production, in referencing an earlier work it acts as -or enacts- an inside out installation effectively producing a reversal where the viewer in her contingent role as co-author retraces and reframes the work.
~ Ali Soltani
images courtesy of MOMA and Soltani+LeClercq
Louise Lawler “Why Pictures Now” 1981, Gelatin print silver-The Museum of Modern Art ~ © 2017 Louise Lawler
Installation view (image: Soltani+LeClercq)
Installation View (Image source: Museum of Modern Art archive NY)
Installation view (image: Soltani+LeClercq)
Installation View detail (Image source: Museum of Modern Art archive NY)