Face Value

The work blends into the streetscape; the portraits look out over a city of lights and those who are not inclined to look up may not notice Gene or Martha or Louis looking down on them. This urban camouflage serves to simultaneously add power to the portraits and take it away; they wield power over the city as kings might, we see the person as an image of power on pedestal, but the piece is turned on its head, as the people depicted are those that walk, as any of us do, anonymously on the streets.

Installation View. Special thanks to Droege Tree Company for their donation of a cherry picker truck.

2003
Light box: 4 x 3 x 1 ft., 34 ft. tall
Municipal lamppost, light box (aluminum, fluorescent lights, electronics), steel, plexiglass, Duratrans® transparencies

Photo by Eric Troffkin.