The statuesque Weimaraners that are the subjects of William Wegman's signature portraits have less to do with the stranded kittens of 'Hang in There' poster fame than they do with the works of Cindy Sherman or even Edward Weston. Like Sherman,...
[more]The statuesque Weimaraners that are the subjects of William Wegman's signature portraits have less to do with the stranded kittens of 'Hang in There' poster fame than they do with the works of Cindy Sherman or even Edward Weston. Like Sherman, Wegman is a practitioner of setup photography, a method in which human or animal actors pose in theatrical settings. Wegman's famous dogs -- Man Ray, Fay Ray, Batty, and others -- have appeared on Sesame Street and in children's picture books, as well as in fine art photographs and magazine covers. Dressed in costumes ranging from raincoats to smoking jackets, the animals stare solemnly back at the viewer for an effect that is endearingly ridiculous. But comical as they are, the photographs reach a strangely human element, often addressing weightier topics such as death, loneliness, and the nature of art in general. Though at first glance one might peg them as merely commercial or illustration photographs, the Weimaraner pieces do indeed occupy the realm of fine art, employing humor in the name of the gently subversive.
Interestingly, Wegman did not even begin his career working in the medium that would make him so famous. He studied art at the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston and the University of Illinois, Urbana. Though trained as a painter, he turned away from painting in part because of the widely held opinion of the 1960s that the art form was dead. He took up drawing and painting again in 1972 as a reaction against what he saw as needless restrictions on expression.
Throughout his career, which has spanned almost 30 years, Wegman has rendered works in oil painting, ink and pencil sketches, gelatin silver prints, and video. According to the artist, he began drawing because he could 'deal with really far-fetched content, subjects that were awkward for photo or video recording. Drawing opened up the realm of possibilities.... In the beginning my drawings were very straightforward, like the video and photo. But one difference between photographs and drawings is of course that a drawing is unique.' Of course, such a self-admitted zeal for the fantastic cannot help but show itself in his other works. After all, when met face-to-face with a dog dressed as Little Red Riding Hood, 'far-fetched' becomes a relative term.
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