Art and Authenticity in the Age of Fake News
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Cynthia Connolly (1964 - ), Ice Machines series, 1993-2001 |
Asheville, North Carolina, 4-12-97, 1997
Panhandle, Texas, 1-31-98, 1998
Page, Arizona, 5-17-99, 1999
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 2-2-01, 2001
Gelatin silver prints, sheet: 15 3/4 × 19 7/8 in. (40 × 50.5 cm) each |
Gift from the Trustees of the Corcoran Gallery of Art (Gift of an anonymous donor) |
2018.15.2434; 2018.15.2435; 2018.15.2436; 2018.15.2440
From 1993 to 2001, Cynthia Connolly made several road trips across the United States with the express purpose of taking photographs. The result is her “Ice Machine” series: 20 straightforward black and white photographs of convenience store iceboxes. The photographs do not betray where they were taken, but Connolly notes the location and date on the prints themselves. As a whole, the series provides a visual archive of the artist’s personal travels, but, more poignantly, it also offers a new vision of the American landscape. Connolly does not picture expansive vistas or notable natural formations; rather, she documents a commercial product and, so, depicts every city—from Asheville to Page—as somewhat different, but essentially the same. To create this pictorial statement, Connolly drew on the tradition of typological photography, specifically Ed Ruscha’s Twentysix Gasoline Stations (1963), but her work exposes the genre's inherent subjectivity.
Portfolio
(Click on the image below to launch a full-size slideshow)
Left: Cynthia Connelly, Installation view: All Fifteen at Once at SUNY Purchase. ©2020 by Cynthia Connolly. Right: Cynthia Connelly, Installation instructions. American University Museum.
Cynthia Connelly, artist quote on “Ice Machines” series. ©2020 by Cynthia Connolly.
Edward Ruscha (1937-), Twentysix Gasoline Stations, 1963, printed 1969. Artist’s book, edition of 3000, offset printed, closed 7 1/16 x 5 9/16 x 3/16 in. The Museum of Modern Art, 706.2011. © 2020 Edward Ruscha.
Left: Cynthia Connelly, Installation view: All Fifteen at Once at SUNY Purchase. ©2020 by Cynthia Connolly. Right: Cynthia Connelly, Installation instructions. American University Museum.