CONTEMPORARY ART AUCTION PREVIEW at DAVID ZWIRNER GALLERY, NYC
STAND BY ME was shot outside a clothing store in Venice, IT, in 1999 and was included in my first solo exhibition in 2001. Subsequently, the art critic of the Washington City Paper featured the photograph in his very nice review of the exhibition.
When I was documenting the daily life of a 16th century campo, or town square, one summer on Dorsoduro, I spent many hours each day in the town square to capture images of daily activities but also to become so familiar a face that the locals would overlook my presence and be as unaffected by it as possible.
As I would walk to and from the town square several times a day, I would look for out-of-the-ordinary images to photograph in certainly one of the most photogenic cities in the world. After stopping to admire the beautiful brocade and silk fabrics in the window of a men’s clothing store, I noticed nearby mannequins with realistic looking wooden legs and matching dramatic high-heel platform pumps. Now almost 24 years later, I am still struck by the unexpected, enigmatic image of these closely positioned mannequins who appear to convey a sense of solidarity and belonging and, surprisingly, presciently fashion-forward are wearing today’s au courant style statement platform heels.
I am delighted that STAND BY ME joins work by art luminaries Richard Serra, Hank Willis Thomas, Roni Horn, Nicole Eisenman and Alice Neel offered in the Friends Seminary Contemporary Art Auction Preview at David Zwirner, 533 West 19th Street, NYC, February 23 and 24, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m, each day. View and bid on Artsy online until noon, March 10.
Proceeds from the Auction are dedicated to a fund that provides financial aid for children of practicing artists.
Other images of Venice appear in the URBAN IMAGES and WATER IMAGES exhibition portfolios.
STAND BY ME