‘Objects of Desire’ Explores the Interplay Between Fine Art and Commercial Photography
Coming to LACMA this fall.
Objects of Desire: Photography and the Language of Advertising is a new exhibition coming to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) this fall. As the title implies, the show explores the myriad ways in which artists have manipulated and fused the worlds of fine art and commercial photography.
Curated by Rebecca Morse of the Wallis Annenberg Photography Department, the show harks back to techniques first formed in the 1970s, when photographers reworked advertising’s visual codes and strategies to place the onus on the viewer to determine what these images are asking of us.
“This exhibition explores an under-recognized relationship between commercial and fine art photography. No other medium has such diversity in its application,” said Morse in a statement. “The exhibition places commercial photography at its center — examining where artists have imitated its look, appropriated its content, adopted its distribution methods, and generally exploited what has historically belonged to a strain of photography in the service of commerce.”
The exhibition will occupy the expansive second floor of the Renzo Piano-designed BCAM building and will feature a monumental set of work by 34 artists, including Barbara Kruger, Larry Sultan, Chris Burden, Hank Willis Thomas, Sara Cwynar and many more.
Objects of Desire: Photography and the Language of Advertising will go on view at LACMA from September September 4 to December 18, 2022.
In related news, Unit London explores semiotics in new group exhibition.
LACMA
5905 Wilshire Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90036
