Upon seeing the piece pictured above, my dad, who was visiting the Rubell Family Collection with me, decided to wait for me at the Phaidon bookstore downstairs.
I did not know anything about the artist Charles Ray until I saw this piece titled Oh! Charley Charley Charley. Life-sized, anatomically correct mannequins, which are replicas of the artist himself, are having sex with each other in different positions. It is a shocking and unsettling piece. It may be making a reference to Pygmalion, a sculptor in Greek mythology, who falls in love with Galatea, the statue he made. In this case the sculpture is one of the artist himself, (Narcissus?) and the mythological, innocent love has been replaced by explicit sexuality in a post-modern twist.
This piece gives you clear insight into the Rubell family's philosophy in collecting. They are not buying art to affirm their status, or to turn a profit. They are pushing the boundaries of their own imagination, offering different and unconventional points of view to provoke thought and initiate a dialogue with the publikum.
1 comment:
Openmindedness varies with culture and you have to accept that as well. That sexual thing not the kind you want to make that very public.
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