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Constructivist Portrait

1983
(American, b. 1952)
America, 20th century
gelatin silver print, toned and painted
Overall: 45.7 x 51.5 cm (18 x 20 1/4 in.); Mounted: 50.8 x 61 cm (20 x 24 in.)
Gift of Dorothy Handelman 2003.309
©Ellen Carey
Location: not on view
This artwork is known to be under copyright.

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Description

During the past two decades, Carey has consistently expanded the expressive and formal expectations of photography beyond its ability to mimic reality, relying on color and abstraction to carry her symbolism. In this early self-portrait, she added a collaged eye to the negative, which was then rephotographed, printed in high contrast, and painted with vivid hues. She relied on optical distortion to obscure and flatten the representational image, which has a psychedelic, geometrical quality that seems inspired by Piet Mondrian’s colors and forms and Man Ray’s Surrealist juxtapositions.
Constructivist Portrait

Constructivist Portrait

1983

Ellen Carey

(American, b. 1952)
America, 20th century

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