Items Similar to Felix and Dominique (California Blue Screen) - analog, mounted
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 5
Stefanie SchneiderFelix and Dominique (California Blue Screen) - analog, mounted1997
1997
About the Item
Felix and Dominique (California Blue Screen) - 1997
44x59cm,
sold out Edition of 5, Artist Proof 1/2,
analog C-Print, hand-printed by the artist, based on the Polaroid,
Mounted on Aluminum. Signed on back. Artist Inventory No. 141.06.
Exhibits: Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects (S) 2000, German General Consulate Los Angeles 1998, curated by Susanne Vielmetter (S) 1998 - Published in: STRANGER THAN PARADISE published by Hatje Cantz Verlag, 2006 -
THE GREATER THE EMPTINESS THE GRANDER THE ART – Stefan Gronert
Not “Twenty-six Gasoline Stations” but “29 Palms, CA”! Forty-two years after Ed Ruscha’s legendary book, there is no gasoline station at the beginning of the book that is here at hand. Instead it is the open-hearted Radha – with orange hair, pink-colored overalls and a bashful, or rather cunning, gaze that is directed downward – with which this book begins! And with her and with Max – attention: a woman –, one whose appearance is in accordance with the same styling, it comes to an end as well – after Radha has in the meantime colored her fingernails pink, again endowed with the same openheartedness and the same look which now, however, reveals in combination with her altered facial expression an “old-maidish” turning away from the viewer. This may serve as an example for a vivid and understandable transformation which flows into a large-scale representation of a cheerless settlement beneath a shining, blue sky – there a figure, lost straightaway, becomes overwhelmed.
Pictures which in 1998/99 play in the harsh California sunlight or in spaces that are not exactly cozy and comfortable. “Play” is the correct word in this regard, for precisely in view of the pictures of persons, there remains more than just doubt as to whether we are looking at staged scenes or have simply happened upon the high-strung “reality” of a (wannabe) film world. Yet not all the pictures have the same character of a glaring, plastic world. Upon flipping through the pages, we also encounter unpretentious, literally “colorless” scenes in undefined interiors, or unspectacular views resembling a still life and opening out onto a nowhere land. That which connects all participants in these picture-worlds is the observation that they appear to be exhausted, lost, empty or uncertain about their existence. One is almost reminded of the empty gazes and loneliness of the protagonists in the pictures of large cities painted by Manet or Degas in the era of Early Modernism.
With one exception, all the photographs which are reproduced here, which originally measure 60 by 70 cm but which here, in their present size and configuration, make productive use of the possibilities presented by the medium of the book, manifest several elements of B-movies: smoking, naked, made-up and muscular persons who are not inclined to conform entirely to the vision of Hollywood dreams. Beauty and vexation, eroticism and loneliness enter into a mixture which reveals the rift between desire and truth. From a distance, one is reminded of the “Untitled Film Stills” of Cindy Sherman, which in this regard are not nearly as drastic. Yet where as her photos from the seventies are characterized by a cool, objective mode of representation in historicizing black-and-white, the photographs of Stefanie Schneider evince a soft, sometimes seemingly pictorial visual language with a coloration ranging from the pale to the artificial-glaring. As in many other pictures of Stefanie Schneider which often present themselves to us as sequences, these photos refer back as well to the perceptual stereotypes of film. Making use of instant photography, proceeding from which significantly enlarged C-prints come into being, her pictures summon up the impression of a narration without ultimately becoming part of a plot that is readable in a linear fashion. The illusion of the narrative element, however, simply enhances the experience of a renunciation of just this aspect. For the picture titles as well – and also the title of this publication – provide no real help with the imaginary construction of a story.
Nevertheless, names return which include the first name of the artist herself: hence is everything not in fact a game but rather a series of authentic and instantaneous images, or is it after all nothing other than a staging, a game – how real is life? The paucity of plot elements, which contradicts all expectation of a cinematic style, as well as the emptiness and loneliness of the persons, enters into a peculiar, sometimes seemingly surreal association with the magic of the sun-drenched expanses of the dreamlike landscape. Just as the fantasy and imagination of the viewer are stimulated, so to the same great extent does the redemption of these visual figures of love founder on a void whose glaze is created, not least of all, by the peculiar blurriness of the photographic representation. The seemingly amateur character of these pictures, which have in no way been treated with any excessive scrupulousness, leaves us with a stimulating incertitude as to their interpretation, one in which the spheres of reality, fiction or dream are scarcely capable any longer of being differentiated. Thus the gaps and the scenic openness of what is presented ultimately set in motion a self-appraisal.
So what remains after “29 Palms, CA”? Perhaps that hope which deviates from the saying of Ruscha that is quoted in the title: The stronger the photography the better the reality will be!
Translated by George Frederick Takis
Stefanie Schneider lives and works in the California High Desert where her scintillating situations take place in the American West. Situated on the verge of an elusive super-reality, her photographic sequences provide the ambience for loosely woven story lines and a cast of phantasmic characters.
Schneider works with the chemical mutations of expired Polaroid film stock. Chemical explosions of color spreading across the surfaces undermine the photograph's commitment to reality and induce her characters into trance-like dreamscapes. Like flickering sequences of old road movies Schneider's images seem to evaporate before conclusions can be made - their ephemeral reality manifesting in subtle gestures and mysterious motives. Schneider's images refuse to succumb to reality, they keep alive the confusions of dream, desire, fact, and fiction.
Stefanie Schneider received her MFA in Communication Design at the Folkwang Schule Essen, Germany. Her work has been shown at the Museum for Photography, Braunschweig, Museum für Kommunikation, Berlin, the Institut für Neue Medien, Frankfurt, the Nassauischer Kunstverein, Wiesbaden, Kunstverein Bielefeld, Museum für Moderne Kunst Passau, Les Rencontres d'Arles, Foto -Triennale Esslingen.
Stefanie Schneider's new photographic works tell fantastic stories about her adopted Californian home. She seeks out faded American myths and distils auratically charged reality in a very personal and surprising way. She uses out-of-date Polaroid film, and the blemishes caused by the degenerated film stock, - are included in the composition in a painterly way. Exposure mistakes and low budget movie effects are combined to alienating effect. Everything shimmers and flickers before our eyes. The artist plays with the authentic poetry of the amateur, mixing strangely dreamy staging with random photochemical events. In the 16-part work Frozen, which is characterized by a strangely transcendent mood in the lighting, film-still-like pictorial clusters come together to form a mysterious story, with the artist herself as the lonely protagonist. the aesthetic is reminiscent of early Lynch films. The components of the elliptically choreographed events are scenes from an enchanted, gleaming winter landscape, together with "staged snapshots" of a pale young woman in her underskirts, who radiates the troubled reality of a mirage with her sleep walking presence. The story is presented in the manner of cinematic flashbacks or dream sequences. Stage blood and a knife are used to evoke a crime of passion whose surreal attractiveness is derived from the scenic openess of what is shown. The deliberate use of old instant picture stock establishes in a richly faceted way the ephemeral quality of vulnerability and transience within a reality that is brittle from the outset. The American Stars and Stripes, recently updated as the absolute epitome of a patriotic signifier, is the subject of the 9-part work Primary Colors (2001). Schneider's reassuringly European view, free of undue emotion, presents the Stars and Stripes motif in a strangley alienated form: she shows stills with phases of fluttering violently in the wind, even torn in some cases, and the poor film stock emphazises the fragility of the icon even more.
FlashART - Sabine Dorothee Lehner (translated from German by Michael Robinson)
- Creator:Stefanie Schneider (1968, German)
- Creation Year:1997
- Dimensions:Height: 17.33 in (44 cm)Width: 23.23 in (59 cm)Depth: 0.4 in (1 cm)
- Medium:
- Movement & Style:
- Period:
- Condition:
- Gallery Location:Morongo Valley, CA
- Reference Number:1stDibs: LU652311009592
About the Seller
4.9
Platinum Seller
These expertly vetted sellers are 1stDibs' most experienced sellers and are rated highest by our customers.
Established in 1996
1stDibs seller since 2017
953 sales on 1stDibs
Typical response time: 2 hours
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: Morongo Valley, CA
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 7 days of delivery.
More From This SellerView All
- Cricket on the Nose Scene - Untitled II - 29 Palms, CA, analog, mountedBy Stefanie SchneiderLocated in Morongo Valley, CA'Untitled II' (Cricket on the Nose Scene) from the 29 Palms, CA series - 2009 56x56cm, Edition 1/5, analog C-Print, hand-printed by the artist, based on a Polaroid signed on verso,...Category
Early 2000s Contemporary Color Photography
MaterialsMetal
- Radha and Max on Dirt Road (29 Palms, CA) - analog, Polaroid, ContemporaryBy Stefanie SchneiderLocated in Morongo Valley, CARadha and Max on Dirt Road (29 Palms, CA) diptych - 1999 Edition of 10, plus 2 Artist Proofs. 50x48cm each, 50x102cm together with gap. 2 Archival C-Prints, based on 2 Polaroids....Category
1990s Contemporary Portrait Photography
MaterialsMetal
- Gestures - 21st Century, Polaroid, Portrait, Contemporary, Self PortraitBy Stefanie SchneiderLocated in Morongo Valley, CAGestures (Stranger than Paradise) - 1999 12 pieces, 48x46 cm each, Edition of 5 Analog C-Prints, hand-printed by the artist, Not mounted. based on 12 Polaroids, Artist inventory 6...Category
Early 2000s Contemporary Color Photography
MaterialsMetal
- Hideout (Wastelands) - analog vintage print, mountedBy Stefanie SchneiderLocated in Morongo Valley, CAHideout (Wastelands) - 2003 57x56cm, Edition 2/5. Analog C-Print, hand-printed by the artist on Fuji Crystal Archive Paper, based on the Polaroid. Mounted on Aluminum with matte ...Category
Early 2000s Contemporary Color Photography
MaterialsMetal
- Margarita Smoke Rings (Till Death do us Part) - analog hand-print, 125x154cmBy Stefanie SchneiderLocated in Morongo Valley, CAMargarita Smoke Rings (Till Death do us Part) - 2009 125x154cm, Edition 3/5. Analog C-Print, hand-printed by the artist, matte surface, based on the Polaroid. Signature label and...Category
Early 2000s Contemporary Color Photography
MaterialsMetal
- Fairytales - diptych, 128x125cm each - Contemporary, 21st Century, PolaroidBy Stefanie SchneiderLocated in Morongo Valley, CAFairytales (diptych) - 2006, Edition of 2/5, 128x125cm each, 128x270cm installed, including gaps, 2 analog C-Prints, hand-printed by the artist, based on 2 Polaroids. Mounted o...Category
Early 2000s Contemporary Portrait Photography
MaterialsMetal
You May Also Like
- Terry O'Neill - Faye Dunaway at the Pool, Photography 1977, Printed AfterBy Terry O'NeillLocated in Greenwich, CTAmerican actress Dorothy Faye Dunaway was one of the hottest actresses in the 1970s playing neurotic, highly driven women with sex appeal. She worked onstage before moving to the big...Category
1970s Contemporary Color Photography
MaterialsArchival Paper, Photographic Paper, C Print
- Tyler Shields - Pill, Photography 2020, Printed AfterBy Tyler ShieldsLocated in Greenwich, CTSeries: Mouths Chromogenic Print on Kodak Endura Luster Paper All available sizes and editions: 18" x 18" 30" x 30" 40" x 40" 60" x 60" 70" x 70" Editions of 3 + 2 Artist Proofs Tyl...Category
2010s Contemporary Color Photography
MaterialsLuster, Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, C Print
- Tyler Shields - The Girl with The Red Glove, Photography 2021, Printed AfterBy Tyler ShieldsLocated in Greenwich, CTSeries: Historical Fiction Chromogenic Print on Kodak Endura Luster Paper All available sizes and editions: 15" x 20" 22.5" x 30" 30" x 40" 45" x 60" 56" x 72" 63" x 84" Editions of ...Category
2010s Contemporary Color Photography
MaterialsDigital Pigment, Luster, Archival Pigment, Inkjet, Laser, Digital, Color...
- Tyler Shields - The Girl in The Red Car, Photography 2021, Printed AfterBy Tyler ShieldsLocated in Greenwich, CTSeries: Historical Fiction Chromogenic Print on Kodak Endura Luster Paper All available sizes and editions: 15" x 20" 22.5" x 30" 30" x 40" 45" x 60" 56" x 72" 63" x 84" Editions of ...Category
2010s Contemporary Color Photography
MaterialsLuster, Paper, Archival Ink, Archival Paper, Photographic Paper, C Print...
- Isabelle Van Zeijl - All For Love, Photography 2020, Printed AfterBy Isabelle Van ZeijlLocated in Greenwich, CTAll For Love C-print on Fuji Paper Collection: FLOWER LOVE One size: 40.5 x 40.5 Edition of 8 + 2 Artist Proofs FLOWER LOVE Roses warm you heart, they ins...Category
2010s Contemporary Color Photography
MaterialsArchival Ink, Digital Pigment, Archival Pigment, Digital, C Print, Photo...
- Isabelle Van Zeijl - Love Me Wild, Photography 2020, Printed AfterBy Isabelle Van ZeijlLocated in Greenwich, CTLove Me Wild C-print on Fuji Paper Collection: FLOWER LOVE One Size 40.5 x 30.3 Edition of 8 + 2 Artist Proofs, 9 left FLOWER LOVE Roses warm you heart, t...Category
2010s Contemporary Color Photography
MaterialsArchival Ink, Digital Pigment, Archival Pigment, Digital, C Print, Photo...
Recently Viewed
View AllMore Ways To Browse
Blue Screen
Felix Vintage
Low Screen
Retro Metal Screen
Authentic Vintage Metal Signs
Sun Screen
Blue Vintage Picture Frames
Vintage Flow Blue
Real Vintage Fur
Real Fur Vintage
Torn Vintage Paper
Vintage Blue Movie
Retro 70s Space Art
Cool Vintage Picture
Vintage Fashion Two Twenty
Woman Smoking Black And White
Mounted Book Case
Mirage Vintage