PHOTOGRAPHS
Lawler, Louise
U.S. (1947 - )
Once There Was A Little Boy and Everything Turned Out Alright. THE END
1985
Gelatin silver print
4 x 13 in. (10.2 x 33 cm) image size; 8 x 17 x 5/16 in. (20.3 x 43.2 x .8 cm) overall
Joseph and Elaine Monsen Photography Collection, gift of Joseph and Elaine Monsen and The Boeing Company
FA 97.90

Louise Lawler is interested in creating works that simultaneously offer comfort and discomfort for the viewer while addressing various elements of the art market. In Once There Was A Little Boy and Everything Turned Out Alright. THE END. (1985), she juxtaposes two images; on the left is a photographic image of an artwork by another artist hung in a collector’s home, and on the right is a text. The image of the living room and the first sentence of the text contain elements that are easily recognizable and consonant with a typical viewer’s own knowledge and experience: an image of a seemingly traditional home coupled with a traditional story narrative. But Lawler introduces discomfort by cropping elements of the expensive décor in the living room and abruptly ending the narrative with the phrase “the end,” just as the character is introduced. The line between comfort and discomfort is left open to interpretation by the viewer.

Louise Lawler attended Cornell University, where she received a BFA in 1969. The artist has had solo exhibitions at the Wexner Center in Ohio, Dia Beacon in New York, and Kunstmuseum Basel ,among others. Her work has also appeared in three Whitney Biennials; at Metro Pictures, New York; and at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. Lawler’s work can be found in major collections around the world including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, and Tate Britain in London. She currently lives and works in New York City.

-- Label copy for Now Here is also Nowhere: Part I, October 27, 2012, to January 6, 2013.