About the artist
b. 1947 in Bronxville, New York, USA
Lives and works in Brooklyn, NY, USA
Louise Lawler raises questions about art — about the circumstances of its production, circulation as well as the institutional, economic and ideological frameworks that support its modes of existence and display. Louise Lawler’s work primarily occurs in the act of photographing artworks in the setting of museums, galleries, auction houses, storage facilities and collector’s homes. Meticulously cropping and producing images as objects, she plays with a simple yet effective photographic repertoire that includes both extremely small and extremely large images occasionally manipulated or distorted to follow precise conceptual principles. One of the foremost members of the Pictures Generation, Louise Lawler emerged in the late 1970s with peers such as Sarah Charlesworth, Cindy, Sherman, Barbara Kruger and Sherrie Levine at a time when postmodern theory was coming to define the art world in New York propelled by critics like Douglas Crimp and Craig Owens. Louise Lawler’s work is notable for its rigorously feminist agenda, anti-war engagement and commitment to institutional critique and collaboration.

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