Mae Wested, Image courtesy of the artist and Perry Rubenstein Gallery, Los Angeles
There's nothing Hollywood loves more than the hard boiled tales of noir. Just look at L.A. Confidential... or that eternally mesmerizing story of the Black Dahlia - chronicles of mystery, melodrama - always suffused in pent up angst, sex and innuendo.
For her latest body of work, artist Zoe Crosher embraced that vibe - and did it up beautifully.
On September 14th, Perry Rubenstein Gallery will present Crosher's The Disappearing of Michelle duBois, the gallery's inaugural fall show in a new 8,000 square foot space in Los Angeles.
The L.A. based artist will debut final works from her Michelle duBois project, a series of photographic investigations that re-imagines and intervenes in the extensive amateur archive of relentless traveler and self-documentarian, Michelle duBois - a woman originally from Oklahoma who worked as a call girl in the Pacific Rim in the 70's and 80's. The name "Michelle duBois" was just one of this unknown woman's many aliases.
Crosher, in turn, has re-photographed, scanned, enlarged, altered, and re-edited duBois' self-portraits to create complicated and alternate narratives using photography as a tool of fiction, myth, and fantasy, all showcased within a documentary-type framework. By re-imagining the images of this seductively mysterious woman, and adding her own sort of 'nouveau noir' tinged touch to the work, Crosher decisively blurs the fine lines of fantasy and reality.
No.9 from The Additive Dust Series (GUAM 1979) from The
Disappearance of Michelle duBois, 2012, Image courtesy of the artist and Perry Rubenstein Gallery, Los Angeles
Since acquiring the archive of Michelle duBois, Crosher has moved through evolving iterations of exploration, highlighting the strategies and structures of fantasy as much as they expose anything concrete about Ms. duBois herself.
Crosher has created new works that emphasize the impossibility of knowing oneself, even after an endless accumulation of images. As Crosher has moved through the project, her investigations have resulted in increasingly pronounced interventions leading to the near-disappearance -- or even total obfuscation -- of the original source material. The result is a body of work aiming for complete liberation -- from photographic, literary, identity and historic constraint.
ZOE CROSHER: THE DISAPPEARING OF MICHELLE DUBOIS
Perry Rubenstein Gallery
1215 North Highland Avenue Los Angeles, CA 90038
Opening Reception, September 13th 6-8PM
September 14, 2012 - October 27, 2012