Galax, Virginia

1962

Lee Friedlander

Associated Names
Lee Friedlander

Artist, American, born 1934

A horizontal photograph of a static TV viewed in a dimly lit bedroom. This black-and-white photograph shows a noticeable gradient. The image on screen contains mostly grays, and the sides of the picture being noticeably darker compared to the center. A fuzzy blanket covers the entire mattress, with dark and light patches scattered across it. There are two door frames filled in pitch black. The left side of the door is more obscured by shadows with a door hinge visible. The right side of the photo cuts off at the pitch black. In the center, behind the bed's rails, sits a TV. It is a box with a rounded square screen. The TV screen shows a static video of a child of ambiguous gender staring at the viewer, with their mouth open and short hair. There are antennas on the TV with a cable on its right side. The shadows of the cables and antennas are slightly visible. The TV itself sits on a small rectangular table, with two stubby legs present behind the view of the bed’s guard rails.
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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    gelatin silver print

  • Credit Line

    Patrons' Permanent Fund

  • Dimensions

    image: 21.8 x 32.7 cm (8 9/16 x 12 7/8 in.)
    sheet: 27.9 x 35.6 cm (11 x 14 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2001.22.414


Artwork history & notes

Provenance

NGA purchase, 2001.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

2015

  • In Light of the Past: Celebrating Twenty-Five Years of Collecting Photographs at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, May 3 – July 26, 2015

Bibliography

1978

  • Lee Friedlander: Photographs. Exh. cat. Hudson River Museum. New City, 1978: pl. 23.

1989

  • Like a One-Eyed Cat: Photographs by Lee Friedlander, 1956-1987. Exh. cat. Seattle Art Museum. New York, 1989: pl. 29.

1992

  • Lee Friedlander. Exh. cat. IVAM Centre Julio Gonzalez. Valencia, 1992: 31.

2001

  • The Little Screens. San Francisco, 2001: pl. 32.

2005

  • Friedlander. Exh. cat. The Museum of Modern Art. New York, 2005: pl. 75.

Inscriptions

all on verso: center: artist's stamp with graphite addition: Lee Friedlander; lower center in graphite: Galax Va 1962; lower right in graphite: 1-10

Wikidata ID

Q64156832

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