The Hall of Portraits from the History of Machines
December 28, 2020 5:47 PM Subscribe
Currently on display at the VisArts gallery in Rockville, MD, is San Francisco artist Sue Johnson's satyrical take on 1950's advertising, "The Hall of Portraits from the History of Machines". In it, she collages the objectified women and the items they were used to sell as a single object, for example, a woman who’s hips and torso have been replaced by a blender.
With Dada-esque flair, she directly references Duchamp’s “The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even” by making her larger pieces the same dimension’s as his. The results are ironic, surreal, and hilarious, yet remain thought-provoking. Images used in the exhibition are on the artist's website, including a walk-through video.
With Dada-esque flair, she directly references Duchamp’s “The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even” by making her larger pieces the same dimension’s as his. The results are ironic, surreal, and hilarious, yet remain thought-provoking. Images used in the exhibition are on the artist's website, including a walk-through video.
The formatting is broken on "The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even"
posted by donpardo at 7:52 PM on December 28, 2020
posted by donpardo at 7:52 PM on December 28, 2020
Cool video walk through of VisArts show. No satyrs though?
posted by etherist at 9:07 PM on December 28, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by etherist at 9:07 PM on December 28, 2020 [1 favorite]
This is so great. Thanks for the FPP, CheeseDigestsAll. Every image (thus far) makes me happy.
posted by Bella Donna at 4:44 AM on December 29, 2020
posted by Bella Donna at 4:44 AM on December 29, 2020
Funnily enough, I think 50s ads actually become less disturbing when transformed into explicitly surreal works of art.
posted by Phanx at 6:49 AM on December 29, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by Phanx at 6:49 AM on December 29, 2020 [2 favorites]
I walked by there a few weeks ago and made a mental note to find more info on the artist, which I promptly forgot, so thanks for posting this!
posted by amarynth at 10:46 AM on December 29, 2020
posted by amarynth at 10:46 AM on December 29, 2020
I was a little girl in the 50s and my Mom bought those magazines, so I really love this use of them.
Part woman, part household appliance was sad but true.
The most puzzling ad to me, an ignorant Catholic girl, was the one about "the embarrassing problem married women face" often with a picture of a bride. I learned some time later it was an ad for some kind of douche! The menstrual product ads were equally mysterious.
We had few of the modern appliances in these ads, just the basics, and my mom was not a housewife, she worked and was a teacher, did not wear housedresses or high heels to vacuum. But I did like the classy clothes in the ads, like my paper dolls wore.
posted by mermayd at 12:42 PM on December 29, 2020
Part woman, part household appliance was sad but true.
The most puzzling ad to me, an ignorant Catholic girl, was the one about "the embarrassing problem married women face" often with a picture of a bride. I learned some time later it was an ad for some kind of douche! The menstrual product ads were equally mysterious.
We had few of the modern appliances in these ads, just the basics, and my mom was not a housewife, she worked and was a teacher, did not wear housedresses or high heels to vacuum. But I did like the classy clothes in the ads, like my paper dolls wore.
posted by mermayd at 12:42 PM on December 29, 2020
That book by Marshall McLuhan is referenced, he was critical of mid-20th century American consumer culture, but he was behind the curve in his views on gender...
posted by ovvl at 5:33 PM on December 29, 2020
posted by ovvl at 5:33 PM on December 29, 2020
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posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 5:49 PM on December 28, 2020