Annie Adjchavanich, Boy Marilyn, 1991 |

Gelatin silver print, sheet: 41 x 41 in. (104.14 x 104.14 cm) |
Gift from the Trustees of the Corcoran Gallery of Art (Anonymous Gift) |

2018.15.2611 |

 

Annie Adjchavanich’s Boy Marilyn depicts a male-presenting figure dressed as Marilyn Monroe. Adjchavanich photographed the model, David, in Washington, DC, where he was part of the city’s thriving drag subculture. By photographing David in the guise of a female sex symbol, Adjchavanich subverts the indexicality of both the body and photography. That is to say, the image questions whether the body and the photograph are accurate representations of reality. By performing as Marilyn Monroe, David expresses a part of himself and, by photographing him in this guise, Adjchavanich reveals the limits of the visible. This work thus takes its place beside photographs by artists Peter Hujar and Robert Mapplethorpe, who also pictured and honored queer culture in the 1980s and 90s, when the government’s halting response to the AIDS crisis put gay men in particular under threat.