2012 Catalogue Archive

The works of New York painter/photographer Marilyn Minter depict the glamour and vulnerability of a commercially sexualized femininity. Speaking to this appeal of glamour, Minter says there is “a complex emotion when you look at glamorous pictures. I get a lot of pleasure out of looking at the most glamorous pictures. But you’re constantly aware that you’re never going to look that good. There are two feelings there, not just one, and I’m trying to mirror that.” Working within a pendulate relationship between painting and photography, one can see the luscious brush-like qualities from painting that influence Minter’s photographs. In Ball Spitter, the photo is developed in a conventional darkroom process where her unique technique creates a ruptured effect that interferes with the alluring female subject. Born in Shreveport, Louisiana, Minter has been the subject of numerous museum and gallery exhibitions worldwide. She was included in the 2006 Whitney Biennial and featured on a series of billboards throughout New York City in conjunction with the exhibition. Her work is the subject of current solo exhibitions at the Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, and The Cannery in Murcia, Spain. Minter’s work is in public collections at the Guggenheim Museum, New York; Museum of Modern Art, New York; Blanton Museum, Austin; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; and the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, among others.