Black-and-white Backdrop #2

2007

Not on view

Best known for her semi-abstract photographs of smoke reflected in arrangements of tilted mirrors, Quinlan is fascinated by photography's complex relationship to truth and deception. In this cryptic study of a piece of leathery fabric, she deliberately fosters a sense of optical confusion between the wrinkly surface texture of her source material and that of the photographic print. Quinlan uses traditional photographic materials-film and chemical developing; here, the scratches and flaws in the negative heighten the overall sense of mystery, giving the work a satisfyingly palpable presence.

Artwork Details

Overview

Exhibition History

Title: Black-and-white Backdrop #2
Artist: Eileen Quinlan (American, born 1972)
Printer: Sam Merians
Maker: Mounted by Sam Merians
Date: 2007
Medium: Gelatin silver print
Dimensions: 101.6 x 76.2 cm (40 x 30 in.)
Frame: 102.9 × 77.5 cm (40 1/2 × 30 1/2 in.)
Classification: Photographs
Credit Line: Purchase, Vital Projects Fund Inc. Gift, through Joyce and Robert Menschel, 2009
Object Number: 2009.17
Rights and Reproduction: © Eileen Quinlan, 2007
Curatorial Department: Photographs

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