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Marilyn: From Anastasi to Weegee Sean Kelly Gallery

Installation view of Marilyn: From Anastasi to Weegee at Sean Kelly, New York 
June 11 - July 23, 2004
Courtesy of Sean Kelly, New York 

Marilyn: From Anastasi to Weegee Sean Kelly Gallery

Installation view of Marilyn: From Anastasi to Weegee at Sean Kelly, New York 
June 11 - July 23, 2004
Courtesy of Sean Kelly, New York

Press Release

Sean Kelly Gallery is delighted to announce the exhibition, Marilyn: From Anastasi to Weegee. The exhibition which opens on June 11th brings together works in diverse media that address popular American icon, Marilyn Monroe.

Marilyn Monroe, born Norma Jeane Mortenson on June 1st, 1926, to an unwed, mentally unstable mother, had a troubled childhood and a short, but dramatic life. Within twenty years, she married three times and made 29 films. If it had been completed, Something's Got to Give, 1962, would have been her 30th film. Officially listed as suicide, Marilyn's death, late on the evening of August 4th, 1962 continues to be the subject of much speculation and controversy. Through Marilyn's image one can explore issues of identity, the vocabulary of memory, and American popular culture. Marilyn herself observed, "People had a habit of looking at me as if I were some kind of mirror". The enduring power of this icon continues to fundamentally inform, transform, and reflect how we view ourselves in contemporary culture. Marilyn's image is constantly represented, quoted and manipulated in art, reflecting America's ongoing love affair with notions of identity, self and fame.

The exhibition includes a silver gelatin print of a young, vibrant Norma Jeane by Andre de Dienes taken in the 1950s. At the end of her life, Bert Stern photographed Marilyn in the famous "Last Sitting" while Robert Frank's Marilyn is Dead, Cape Cod MA, depicts a woman draped in an American flag reading a newspaper with the headline 'Marilyn Dead'. Marilyn's image is appropriated in a many ways. Andy Warhol whose Reversal Marilyn is included in the exhibition, is perhaps the most well known image. Vik Muniz crafts Marilyn's portrait out of blood and diamonds whilst William Anastasi's delicate, parallel lines depict her likeness in two silver gelatin prints and a third work which reflects Warhol's depictions of her.

Several artists reenact iconic Marilyn poses commenting on how her image and identity can be deconstructed and manipulated to address a variety of social issues. Both Yasumasa Morimura and Zoë Leonard restage photographer Tom Kelley's infamous nude red velvet pose. In Douglas Gordon's Self-portrait as Kurt Cobain, as Andy Warhol, as Myra Hindley, as Marilyn Monroe, Marilyn is one of several popular culture personalities that are simultaneously referenced.

Checklist

Entrance

ANDRE de DIENES
Marilyn Monroe, Beverly Hills, 1953
vintage gelatin silver print
dated recto, stamped verso
unframed: 7 x 6 1/2 inches (18 x 17 cm)
framed: 22 x 18 inches (56 x 46 cm)

Gallery 1 (clockwise from left of entrance)

RAY JOHNSON
Untitled (Skull with Marilyn), 1992
collage on cardboard panel
dated recto
unframed: 8 3/4 x 9 1/8 inches (22 x 23 cm)
framed: 11 1/4 x 11 5/8 inches (29 x 30 cm)

JACQUES VILLEGLE
Marilyn - Antwerpen, Octobre, 1982
de-collage on canvas
signed recto, titled and dated verso
18 x 24 inches (46 x 61 cm)

RAY JOHNSON
Untitled (Marilyn with Tesserae and Keir Dullea text), 1981-92
collage on illustration board
signed, titled and dated recto
unframed: 13 1/2 x 10 3/4 inches (34 x 27 cm)
framed: 16 1/8 x 13 1/4 inches (41 x 34 cm)

VIK MUNIZ
Marilyn, After Andy Warhol (from Pictures of Diamond Dust), 2001
dye destruction print
signed titled and dated on label verso
edition of 5, with 3 APs (#1/5)
framed: 59 x 52 1/2 inches (150 x 133 cm)

HOLLY COULIS
Rehearsal, 2004
oil on canvas
signed and dated verso
36 x 30 inches (91 x 76 cm)

BILLY SULLIVAN
Marilyn, 1997
pastel on paper
signed and dated verso
unframed: 25 x 22 1/4 inches (64 x 56 cm)
framed: 36 3/4 x 31 3/4 inches (93 x 80 cm)

E.V. DAY
Marilyn's Dress in 4 Stages: from Detonation to Disintegration, 2004
blueprint on paper
edition of 3, with 2 Aps (#1/3)
signed and dated recto
unframed: 13 x 35 3/4 inches (33 x 91 cm)
framed: 15 1/4 x 38 inches (39 x 97 cm)

Hallway

ANDRE de DIENES
Norma Jean (Marilyn Monroe), California, 1945
vintage gelatin silver print
stamped verso
unframed: 14 x 11 inches (36 x 28 cm)
framed: 22 5/8 x 18 5/8 inches (57 x 47 cm)

KEITH HARING
Marilyn, 1981
black ink on printed poster
framed: 49 3/8 x 29 1/2 inches (125 x 75 cm)

ZOE LEONARD
Marilyn, 1990/95
gelatin silver print
edition of 6 (#3/6)
unframed: 19 3/4 x 14 inches (50 x 36 cm)
framed: 23 1/4 x 17 1/2 inches (59 x 44 cm)

Gallery 2

JEAN MATTHEE
The Descent of the Seductress, 1983/2004
edition of 3 with 2 APs
DVD, single loop running time: 14 min.; total running time 56 min.
certificate
dimensions variable

Main gallery (clockwise from left)

WILLIAM ANASTASI
Untitled, 1995
silkscreen on paper
signed and editioned recto
edition of 36
unframed: 13 3/4 x 15 1/4 inches (35 x 39 cm)
framed: 25 1/2 x 25 1/2 inches (65 x 65 cm)

ANDY WARHOL
Reversal Marilyn, 1978
unique screenprint on Saunders HP paper
estate stamped verso
unframed: 31 1/8 x 23 3/8 inches (79 x 59 cm)
framed: 34 x 26 1/4 inches (86 x 66 cm)

WILLIAM ANASTASI
Untitled, 1996
gelatin silver print
signed and dated recto
unframed: 10 x 8 inches (25 x 20 cm)
framed: 18 x 22 inches (46 x 56 cm)

BERT STERN
Marilyn Crucifix III, 1962
iris print
edition of 36 (#7/36)
signed and dated recto
unframed: 47 x 35 inches (119 x 89 cm)
framed: 49 x 49 inches (125 x 125 cm)

PAUL PFEIFFER
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse:1, 2000
cibachrome print
signed and dated on label verso
edition of 6 (#1/6)
unframed: 59 x 47 inches (150 x 119 cm)
framed: 69 x 57 x 3 inches (175 x 145 x 8 cm)

BERT STERN
Marilyn Monroe, from the Last Sitting, Crucifix II, 1962
chromogenic print
edition of 36 (#27/36)
signed and dated recto
unframed: 42 1/2 x 43 1/2 inches (108 x 110 cm)
framed: 52 1/4 x 52 1/4 inches (133 x 133 cm)

WILLIAM ANASTASI
Untitled, 1996
Unique erased silver gelatin print
signed and dated recto
unframed: 13 3/4 x 15 1/4 inches (35 x 39 cm)
framed: 25 1/2 x 25 1/2 inches (65 x 65 cm)

VIK MUNIZ
Marilyn (From Pictures of Diamonds), 2004
dye destruction print
signed, titled and dated label verso
framed: 60 x 51 inches (152 x 130 cm)
edition of 10, with 5 AP s

ROBERT INDIANA
Marilyn, Marilyn, 1999
oil on canvas
unframed: 68 x 68 inches (173 x 173 cm)
framed: 72 x 72 inches (183 x 183 cm)

VIK MUNIZ
Bloody Marilyn (After Warhol), 2001
dye destruction print
signed, titled and dated on label verso
edition of 3 (#3/3)
framed: 60 3/4 x 52 1/2 inches (154 x 133 cm)

CINDY SHERMAN
Untitled, 1986
chromogenic print
signed and dated on recto
edition of 125, with 10 APs (#2/125)
unframed: 15 3/8 x 9 1/8 inches (39 x 23 cm)
framed: 24 3/8 x 17 11/16 inches (62 x 45 cm)

YASUMASA MORIMURA
Self-Portrait (Actress)/Red Marilyn, 1996
Ilfochrome/acrylic sheet
edition of 10 (#7/10)
signed and dated verso
unframed: 47 1/4 x 37 1/2 inches (120 x 95 cm)
framed: 49 x 39 inches (124 x 99 cm)

ZOE LEONARD
Pin Up#1 (Jennifer Miller Does Marilyn Monroe), 1995
gelatin silver print
edition of 3, with 1 AP (#exhibition copy)
unframed: 50 x 33 1/2 inches (127 x 85 cm)

DOUGLAS GORDON
Self-portrait as Kurt Cobain, as Andy Warhol, as Myra Hindley, as Marilyn Monroe,
1996
C print
signed on verso
edition of 11 with 4 APs (AP4)
framed: 30 1/2 x 30 1/2 inches (75 x 75 cm)

JONATHAN HOROWITZ
Talking Without Thinking (in the voice of Marilyn Monroe), 2001
installation with CD, audio equipment and vinyl wall text
edition of 3, with 1 AP (#3/3)
dimensions variable

RAYMOND PETTIBON
No Title (Happy Birthday to), 1990-2003
pen and ink on paper
signed verso
unframed: 14 x 11 inches (36 x 28cm)
framed: 28 1/8 x 22 inches (71 x 56 cm)

WEEGEE
Marilyn, 1955
vintage gelatin print
stamped verso
10 x 8 3/16 (25 x 20.8 cm)

BERT STERN
Marilyn with Pearls, from the Last Sitting, 1962
gelatin silver print
edition of 25 (#6/25)
signed and dated recto
unframed: 20 x 24 inches (51 x 61 cm)
framed: 24 5/8 x 32 inches (60 x 90 cm)

ROBERT FRANK
Marilyn Is Dead, Cape Cod, MA., 1962
vintage gelatin silver print
signed verso
unframed: 11 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches (29 x 19 cm)
framed: 21 1/4 x 17 1/4 (54 x 44 cm)

On Pedestal

MARCEL BROODTHAERS
Tour Marilyn, 1965
glass, wood and photographs
24 3/4 x 16 x 16 inches (63 x 41 x 41 cm)