Annie Leibovitz

Elvis Presley's TV, Graceland, Memphis, Tennessee, 2011, Annie Leibovitz

2011

Artist: Timothy Greenfield-Sanders (1952) Title: Jenna Jameson (Diptych-Clothed/Nude) from the XXX 30 PORN-STAR PORTRAITS SERIES Year: 2004 Medium: Color Print Edition: 6 plus 3 AP Size: 20 x 16 inches each, 20 x 32 inches total Condition: Excellent Inscription: Signed, dated, titled by the artist. Exhibitions & Literature: “XXX: 30 Porn Star Portraits” appeared at Mary Boone Gallery, New York [Oct. 30-Dec. 18, 2004] and at John Berggruen Gallery, San Francisco [Jan. 12-Feb. 12, 2005]. Accompanying the exhibition was a 144-page catalogue published by Bulfinch Press, a soundtrack distributed by Emperor Norton (Ryko) and a documentary on the making of the photographs aired by HBO [Oct. 22, 2004-Feb. 22, 2005]. Notes: Since this item will be shipped directly from the photographer, the seller can only provide the specific edition number to buyers at the actual point of sale. Please message the seller to request this information at the point of purchase. BACKGROUND, XXX 30 PORN-STAR PORTRAITS SERIES Art in America “Body Double” by Sarah Valdez 4/2005 — From rock stars to presidents, literary figures to actors, not to mention pretty much everyone of consequence in the blue-chip art world, Timothy Greenfield-Sanders has for some three decades now photographed celebrities, in the process institutionalizing himself as one. Ever a fan of the big negative’s capacity for crisply rendering minutiae larger than life, Greenfield-Sanders has made a formidable career out of satisfying the public’s desire to scrutinize ordinary aspects of extraordinary people, at once acknowledging and confirming their iconic status. He has captured, for instance, the young David Bowie, transformed with a goatee and feathery earring; Warhol wringing his hands, for once caught unawares by the camera; Hillary Clinton with that impeccable blonde bob; Agnes Martin in an adorable black cardigan, gold buttons done up to the top; Robert Mapplethorpe wide-eyed in his boodle. Like school portraits, set consistently against solid backdrops, Greenfield-Sanders’s portraits possess a reassuring sameness, encouraging scientific scrutiny–all the while bestowing on his sitters a cultural legitimacy of which they cannot help but be aware. His latest exhibition did no less, chronicling celebrities of the adult-film industry. “XXX: 30 Porn Star Portraits” consisted of a series of 30 photographic diptychs showing his muses posed more or less the same way twice, once with street clothes on and then with them off. But the project also included an ambitious number of spinoffs: a catalogue (with essays by 16 well-known figures, among them Gore Vidal, John Waters, Karen Finley, JT LeRoy and Salman Rushdie, as well as bios written by each of the porn stars he photographed), a Greenfield-Sanders-directed and -produced documentary on the making of the porn-star photographs (aired by HBO) and a slick soundtrack for the documentary (including music by the Velvet Underground, Peaches, Felix da Housecat and Rabbit in the Moon, among others). In the choppy documentary, Greenfield-Sanders appears here and there, but reveals little about his motivation for undertaking “XXX,” mostly allowing his models and catalogue essayists to speak, one after another, as if to an omniscient interviewer. All amicably hold forth on porn and sex, plus a little about life in general. We meet a few self-proclaimed born exhibitionists, who explain that they got into the industry with verve and on purpose. Others, of course, found themselves compelled by cash. Characters become endearing as we gain knowledge of their personal lives. A strapping, square-jawed Russian, for instance, explains that he’s proud to have earned enough to bring his whole family to this country. Porn legend Nina Hartley and her husband cheerfully show off the elaborate dungeon in their home. We see some stars on location, driving around or sitting on lawns, explaining that they’re actually attending college or pursuing careers as artists or tappers: porn as means to an end. Models unselfconsciously mill about Greenfield-Sanders’s studio in the buff and tell life stories while having their makeup done. Somebody’s small dog makes a cameo. Some porn stars confess to having been shunned by parents for their choice of career; one or two describe families proud or at least accepting of their accomplishments. We learn that Greenfield-Sanders got the idea of doing double portraits of the same person, clothed and nude, from Goya, whose La Maja Vestida and La Maja Desnuda...

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Bob Colacello is a writer and a regular contributor to Vanity Fair Magazine. The former editor of Interview Magazine, Colacello was first approached by A...