Before and After
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
- 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
Content Notice
The Metropolitan Museum of Art presents over 5,000 years of art from around the world, and our online collection reflects ongoing work conducted over the course of our more than 150-year history. You may encounter objects or images that may be inappropriate for some viewers or information that may be outdated.