Artist Talk: Thursday, October 17, 5–6pm
Reception: Thursday, October 17, 6–8pm
The Grunwald Gallery hosts a talk by photographer David Levinthal on Thursday, October 17 at 5 pm with a reception to follow, from 6–8pm. Levinthal’s work is currently featured in “Intimate Alchemy: David Levinthal's XXX Polaroids” at the gallery. The exhibition was curated by Rebecca Fasman, curator of the Kinsey Institute Library and Special Collections; IU Professor Emeritus Claude Cookman; and Miami University Teaching Professor of Art History Jennifer Pearson Yamashiro.
Between 1999 and 2001, Levinthal photographed constructed model kits of erotic fantasy figures. Shot with a Polaroid view camera that produced 20" x 24" images, the resulting “XXX” series appears to portray real women in various states of undress, while at the same time subtly undermining the illusion. The exhibition coincides with the photographer’s recent gift to the Kinsey Institute of 60 dolls he photographed to make the “XXX” images. Several of the dolls, along with 26 of the complete set of 272 photographs in the “XXX” series that the Kinsey Institute also owns, will be on display.
"Levinthal makes us consider the line between reality and fantasy,” writes Fasman. “He uses the dolls as artifice to create a new reality, and the inclusion in this exhibition of the original source material for these incredibly beautiful photographs helps us see not just what a technician Levinthal is, but also how crafted and purposeful the construction of these fantasy women is. I hope audiences feel compelled to think critically and creatively about the construction of imagery through the brilliant work of this acclaimed photographer."