PHOTOGRAPHS
Wagner, Catherine F.
U.S. (1953 - )
Genetically Engineered Tomatoes
1994
Gelatin silver print
17 x 22 1/2 in. (43.2 x 57.23 cm) image size; 19 7/8 x 23 3/4 in. (50.5 x 60.3 cm) sheet size
Gift of Burt and Jane Berman
FA 2001.219

Compared to San Raphael, California, this later work of Wagner’s takes an entirely different subject but still reveals her interest in analyzing structures. In Genetically Engineered Tomatoes, taken from a series of photographs from U.S. research laboratories, each seemingly normal tomato is branded with a barcode tag. These tomatoes have less to do with a common vegetable and more to do with constructing an ideal product for human consumption.

Catherine Wagner has taught at Mills College as a professor of studio art since 1978. Her past works have included black-and-white images of microscopic cellular structures and documentations of architectural and manufactured environments. More recently, her work has focused on the natural sciences, such as the materials of scientific investigation or using MRI technology to expose internal structures of the natural world. -- Label copy for 150 Works of Art, October 1, 2005 to February 26, 2006.