Over the course of his career, Elad Lassry has investigated the history and power of images through different mediums, such as photography, film, sculpture, and performance. His small-scale photographs, usually presented in frames that take their color from the main hue of the photograph, are still lifes of mundane objects or portraits depicting individuals and animals from vintage magazines, film archives, or original images shot at Lassry’s studio. Lassry’s photographs are highly staged, intense in their vivid colors, and, at times, puzzling in their visual openness. Removed from their visual context, they question the tradition of photography while investigating – at times ironically – the power of the image and our contemporary engagement with them.
For the High Line, Lassry has created an alluring new image of two young women, both dressed alike, gazing out of two small portholes into a sea of green. Detached from any visual history or context, the image is both mesmerizing and elusive, familiar and remote. It allows the viewers to create their own conceptual space and visual context for the image.
Lassry’s work for High Line Art is presented in advance of his exhibition and performance, Untitled (Presence), at The Kitchen, where the artist is presenting a new 30-minute performance and an exhibition in the institution’s upstairs space. New photographs and a film by Lassry will appear amid a display scheme of apertures related to his performance. Lassry’s exhibition at The Kitchen will be on view Friday, September 7 through Saturday, October 20, 2012; and his performances will take place Thursday, September 13 – through Sunday, September 16, 2012.
Photos by Austin Kennedy.