Untitled
1992–1996

This untitled photolithograph resembles a page from the New York Times, but it is actually a mock-up created by Robert Gober. Not only did the artist select and montage the news stories and Saks Fifth Avenue advertisement, he inserted himself into the bridal gown. As with many of Gober’s projects in sculpture, photography, drawing, and installation, the work’s force derives from its amalgamation of the real and the artificial as well as from the jolt of the out-of-context encounter. Here, the transvestite bride underscores the message of the news reports, which present an unsettling portrait of American values. A story about the Vatican condoning discrimination against homosexuals in cases of adoption is juxtaposed with another about a New Jersey youth worker who murdered her adopted son, implying that no group of people can be declared “safe” for children. Gober comes at politics obliquely in his painstakingly handcrafted work, mixing his address of contemporary issues with personal dynamics.