{"data":{"id":"4043","type":"artist","attributes":{"id":4043,"topgoose_id":1603,"tms_id":4043,"display_name":"Louise Lawler","sort_name":"Lawler Louise","display_date":"1947–","begin_date":"1947","end_date":"0","biography":"\u003cp\u003ePart of the Pictures Generation, Louise\nLawler has used photography since the\nearly 1980s to examine the conditions\nunder which art is seen and the networks\nthrough which it is circulated, displayed,\nand sold. Exploring how such changes of\ncontext not only engender different\nexperiences of art but produce different\nmeanings, Lawler uncovers the various,\noften conflicting, interests that underpin\nthe sites in which art is encountered\nand commodified: galleries, museums, art\nfairs, collectors’ homes, auction houses,\nand art storage facilities. Her photographs\nhave captured items such as wall labels,\npacking and shipping materials, and\nexhibition vitrines—ancillary elements,\nusually unremarked upon or unseen, that\nnonetheless affect an artwork’s\nreception and meaning.\n\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"/collection/works/8684\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eSalon Hodler\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/a\u003e, Lawler’s image\nof the living room of a Swiss art collector,\ndemonstrates the centrality of context\nin the experience of viewing art. It features\ntwo large fin-de-siècle paintings by the\nSwiss artist Ferdinand Hodler that hang\non adjacent walls. In this room the paintings\nfunction as status symbols, taking their\nplace alongside other emblems of wealth\nand taste such as an ornate chandelier\nand antique furnishings—an elegant\ndécor that seems to neutralize Hodler’s\nvibrant palette and even temper the\neroticism of his embracing couples. Lawler\nrelies here on photography’s presumptions\nof objectivity—the image, like those in\nmany of her works, has a clinical, detached\nfeel—even as she exploits the aesthetic\npossibilities of her medium through\nthe use of large-scale, glossy prints that\ndocument her prepossessing subjects.\u003c/p\u003e","on_view":false,"artport":false,"biennial":true,"collection":true,"ulan_id":"500088762","wikidata_id":"Q539270","created_at":"2017-08-30T16:31:34.000-04:00","updated_at":"2026-03-28T07:04:50.986-04:00","links":{"artworks":"/api/artists/4043/artworks","exhibitions":"/api/artists/4043/exhibitions"}}}}