Lehmann Maupin is pleased to present Marilyn Minter, Catherine Opie, and Alex Prager in the first of a two part summer exhibiton examining contemporary photography. In Part I, the gallery has selected three women artists who use photography at the core of their practice. Among these artists, viewers will be introduced to themes central to the Lehmann Maupin program—identity, feminism, and personal narrative—while also engaging with artists whose work may seem categorically similar, but upon deeper reflection offers multiple distinct perspectives and approaches to a shared medium.
Marilyn Minter (b. 1948, Shreveport, LA; lives and works in New York) has been at the forefront of the on-going dialogue surrounding depictions of women in art and media with her raw, honest, and at times explicit paintings and photographs of women. Often depicted obscured from behind wet or foggy glass, her subjects are presented fully in control of their attributes, allowing for a depiction of female desire and power—sexual, economic, and political—that has long been treated by society as a natural aberration. As an activist and woman, Minter understands the causation between representations of women and their social agency.
Catherine Opie (b. 1961, Sandusky, OH; lives in Los Angeles) is known for her powerfully dynamic photography that examines the ideals and norms surrounding the culturally constructed American dream and American identity. Using dramatic staging, Opie presents intimate photographs that evoke traditional Renaissance portraiture—images of power and respect. In her landscapes, Opie establishes a level of ambiguity of identity and place by exaggerating the distance of the shot, cropping, or blurring the image.
Alex Prager (b. 1979, Los Angeles; lives and works in Los Angeles) is a photographer and filmmaker who creates elaborately staged scenes that draw inspiration from a wide range of influences, including Hollywood cinema, experimental films, popular culture, and street photography. Her familiar yet uncanny images depict worlds that synthesize fiction and reality. Prager’s work often makes the viewer aware of the voyeuristic nature of photography and film. The highly choreographed nature of her photographs and films exposes the way images are constructed and consumed in our media-saturated society.