Sarah Charlesworth, Pairing Picture To Its Essence
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) is placing the spotlight on Sarah Charlesworth: Doubleworld, the artist’s first full-scale museum exhibition in Los Angeles. Sarah Charlesworth (1947–2013) was a highly influential artist whose work examined the role that photographic images play in contemporary culture.
Sarah Charlesworth, Unidentified Man
The Art Institute of Chicago, restricted gift of Constance R. Caplan, 2013.125, © 2017 The Estate of Sarah Charlesworth.
TITLE: Sarah Charlesworth, Unidentified Man
MEDIUM: Printed 2012, from the series Stills, gelatin silver print
DIMENSIONS: 78 × 42 inches
YEAR: Unidentified Location (#2), 1980
IMAGE COURTESY: LACMA
Sarah Charlesworth, Patricia Cawlings
The Art Institute of Chicago, Krueck Foundation and Photography Gala Funds, 2013.129, © 2017 The Estate of Sarah Charlesworth.
TITLE: Sarah Charlesworth, Patricia Cawlings
MEDIUM: Printed 2012, from the series Stills, gelatin silver print
DIMENSIONS: 78 × 42 inches
YEAR: Los Angeles, 1980
IMAGE COURTESY: LACMA
Charlesworth aligned closely with a group of artists in the 1980s known as the Pictures Generation, which included Jack Goldstein, Sherrie Levine, Richard Prince, and Laurie Simmons, among others. First identified by curator Douglas Crimp in his 1977 exhibition Pictures, at Artists Space in New York, these artists were concerned with how contemporary life is mediated and governed by pictures, specifically experienced through newspapers and magazines, on television, and in film. Over her 40-year career, Charlesworth explored representation and symbolism, first through re-photographing and collaging found images, and later through creating stylized arrangements for the camera.
Sarah Charlesworth, Figure Drawings
Courtesy the Estate of Sarah Charlesworth and Maccarone New York/Los Angeles, installation view at Guild & Greyshkul, New York, 2008, © 2017 The Estate of Sarah Charlesworth
TITLE: Sarah Charlesworth, Figure Drawings
MEDIUM: Printed 2008, from the series Figure Drawings, 40 Fuji Crystal Archive prints
DIMENSIONS: 9 1/2 × 12 inches
YEAR: 1988
IMAGE COURTESY: LACMA
Sarah Charlesworth, Installation photograph
Sarah Charlesworth: Doubleworld, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, August 20, 2017–February 4, 2018, art © Estate of Sarah Charlesworth, photo © Museum Associtates/LACMA.
TITLE: Sarah Charlesworth, Installation photograph
YEAR: August 20, 2017–February 4, 2018
IMAGE COURTESY: LACMA
“AS THE VISUAL LANDSCAPE HAS SHIFTED AND IMAGE-BASED SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS RELY ON PHOTOGRAPHS TO BEHAVE AS A PRIMARY LANGUAGE—OFTEN IN PLACE OF WRITTEN AND SPOKEN METHODS OF COMMUNICATION—CHARLESWORTH’S WORK IS EXTREMELY PERTINENT IN DECODING THE ROLES THAT IMAGES PLAY AS FORMS OF REPRESENTATION, AS ICONS, AND AS SYMBOLS.”
– Rebecca Morse, exhibition curator
Sarah Charlesworth, Figures
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, gift of the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation, © 2017 The Estate of Sarah Charlesworth, digital image © 2017 Museum Associates/LACMA.
TITLE: Sarah Charlesworth, Figures
MEDIUM: From the series Objects of Desire, dye destruction prints
DIMENSIONS: 40 × 60 inches
YEAR: 1983
IMAGE COURTESY: LACMA
Click on the Images for Credit Details
Click on the Images for Credit Details
Sarah Charlesworth, Installation photograph
Sarah Charlesworth: Doubleworld, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, August 20, 2017–February 4, 2018, art © Estate of Sarah Charlesworth, photo © Museum Associtates/LACMA
TITLE: Sarah Charlesworth, Installation photograph
YEAR: August 20, 2017–February 4, 2018
IMAGE COURTESY: LACMA
