Cowboy and Horse

Artist David Levinthal (American, born 1949)

Date1996

MediumC-print Edition 2/10

DimensionsSheet (sight measurement): 24 × 19 1/4 inches (61 × 48.9 cm);
Frame: 33 3/4 × 28 3/4 × 1 1/2 inches (85.7 × 73 × 3.8 cm)

ClassificationsPhotographs

Credit LineThe Ames Family Collection of Contemporary Photography

Terms

Photographs
American

Object number2013.042.002

Label CopyAs a central figure of American postmodern photography of the late 1970s and early ’80s, David Levinthal has a distinct aesthetic, primarily using large-format Polaroid photography. For each of his photographic series—including Desire, Modern Romance, The Wild West, Blackface, and XXX—he stages small toys and props with dramatic lighting as tabletop environments within a studio setting. Addressing a variety of subjects, from voyeurism to racial and gender stereotyping to American pop culture, Levinthal’s soft-focus technique makes the toys feel more realistic. Blurring the distinction between toys and what they represent in this way obscures the line between fantasy and reality, turning the toys into fetishes. With the resulting images both uncanny and grotesque, the figures no longer represent men and women, but rather types. ("Staged, Performed, Manipulated," curated by Andrea Inselmann and presented at the Johnson Museum January 24 - June 7, 2015)

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