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Before and After

Jim Shaw American
1978
Not on view
On loan to The Met
This work of art is currently on loan to the museum.
Shaw, a student of Baldessari’s at CalArts, was similarly fascinated by popular uses of photographic retouching and by the didactic simplicity of the before-and-after format. As part of his master’s thesis exhibition in 1978, Shaw created these heavily retouched photographs illustrating the transformation of ordinary people into reptilian extraterrestrials, affectionately lampooning the conventions of tabloid photographs that “prove” the existence of alien life.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Before and After
  • Artist: Jim Shaw (American, born Midland, Michigan, 1952)
  • Date: 1978
  • Medium: Gelatin silver prints
  • Dimensions: Image: 20 x 27 cm (7 7/8 x 10 5/8 in.) each
    Frame: 36 x 41 cm (14 3/16 x 16 1/8 in.) each
  • Classification: Photographs
  • Credit Line: Collection of Francisco and Josiane Merino
  • Curatorial Department: Photographs