{"data":{"id":"5517","type":"artist","attributes":{"id":5517,"topgoose_id":1075,"tms_id":5517,"display_name":"Paul Pfeiffer","sort_name":"Pfeiffer Paul","display_date":"1966–","begin_date":"1966","end_date":"0","biography":"\u003cp\u003ePaul Pfeiffer, who grew up in the Philippines,\nstudied at the San Francisco Art Institute\nand at Hunter College in New York, and\nwas a participant in the Whitney Museum’s\nIndependent Study Program (1997–98),\nis known for video installations that\ndestabilize the viewing experience. Pfeiffer\ndissects filmed material into clips, modifies\nit—for example, by erasing figures or\nelements—and reconstructs it into brief\nloops that reframe the original scene’s\nmeaning or highlight its iconic nature.\nSports, religion, gender identity, and power\nstructures are themes that frequently\nsurface in the work. Pfeiffer’s thirty-second\nvideo loop \u003ca href=\"/collection/works/12224\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eFragment of a Crucifixion\n(After Francis Bacon)\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/a\u003e features basketball\nplayer Larry Johnson, centrally framed\nin the small projected image and trapped\nin a silent, triumphant scream that\naccompanies a quick movement between\nthree different positions. The ball, backboard,\nand other players have been erased\nfrom the image, which frames Johnson in\nan explosion of flashbulbs in front of an\naudience that seems distant. The athletic\nmoment is removed from and transcends\nits original context, and Johnson’s\nroar thus becomes ambiguous, oscillating\nbetween triumph and torment. Pfeiffer’s\nproject references the 1950 painting\u003cem\u003e\nFragment of a Crucifixion\u003c/em\u003e by Francis Bacon,\nin which the scream of a dying creature\nsuspended from a cross becomes the\ncenterpiece of the work. Pfeiffer’s \u003cem\u003eFragment\nof a Crucifixion\u003c/em\u003e also has a strong sculptural\nquality: mounted on a metal armature,\nthe projector emitting the video image\nbecomes a prominent material component,\nand time itself becomes sculptural in\nthe way it is compressed and formed into\na continuously repeating moment.\u003c/p\u003e","on_view":false,"artport":false,"biennial":true,"collection":true,"ulan_id":"500114660","wikidata_id":"Q4384934","created_at":"2017-08-30T16:04:38.000-04:00","updated_at":"2026-04-11T07:00:31.320-04:00","links":{"artworks":"/api/artists/5517/artworks","exhibitions":"/api/artists/5517/exhibitions"}}}}