Exhibition: September 3–November 16, 2024
Gallery Hours: Tuesday-Saturday, 12–4 pm. Closed Sunday and Monday
Opening Reception: Friday, September 6, 6–8 pm, Grunwald Gallery
Artist Talk and Reception: Thursday, October 17, 5–6 pm and 6–8 pm, Grunwald Gallery
Blurring the line between fact and fiction in our emerging age of digital intimacy, the Kinsey's set of David Levinthal's XXX series—comprising Polaroid photographs of dolls and the dolls themselves—are featured in the exhibition "Intimate Alchemy."
The exhibition features images from both the XXX series and the Netsuke series made by the renowned photographer through unique photographic processes. Shot on a large-format Polaroid camera between 1999 and 2001, the XXX series portrays dolls originally sold as kits from Japan, then assembled and painted by recipients from around the world. The dolls themselves will be exhibited in the gallery with the images. The Kinsey Institute Library and Special Collections is the only holder of the XXX series, complete with dolls.
Also on view, Levinthal's Netsuke series focuses on reproductions of erotic netsuke or miniature sculptures. The commercially available tourist trinkets Levinthal photographs are based on objects originally produced during the Edo Period. Read more about the exhibition on our news page.