THE PICTURES GENERATION
Featured artists: Ericka Beckman Dara Birnbaum Barbara Bloom Eric Bogosian Glenn Branca Troy Brauntuch James Casebere Sarah Charlesworth Rhys Chatham Charlie Clough Nancy Dwyer Jack Goldstein Barbara Kruger Louise Lawler Thomas Lawson Sherrie Levine Robert Longo Allan McCollum Paul McMahon Matt Mullican Richard Prince David Salle Cindy Sherman Laurie Simmons Michael Smith James Welling Michael Zwack
92 VIOLET
Laurie Simmons, Big Camera, Small Camera, 1977. Collection of the artist.
Our attention is demanded in all directions – billboards, electronic adverts, radio, television, magazines, newspapers, websites. In 1970s New York, there was a generation of artists overwhelmed and fascinated by this media saturation. Grouped together for the first time in this book and exhibition, Douglas Eklund celebrates The Pictures Generation. The images span a decade, 1974-1984, both celebrating and questioning mass media. Existing images are taken out of context, deconstructed, reconfigured, subverted. These individual artists are grouped together by a common voice, a common question. Perhaps it is time to question once again, in a world where private and public lives are forever merging. Twitter broadcasts our every thought, while some live vicariously through their Second Life. Reality television ensures even the most mediocre moments enter the domain of entertainment, from paying the bills to planning a party. The Pictures Generation is on show until August 2nd at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The book is available now.