Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
1975

Jack Goldstein was especially drawn to Hollywood movies, captivated by their combination of magic, convention, and sometimes hollow spectacle. He often expressed this fascination in paintings: elegant Photo Realist displays of the light and grandeur of the silver screen. But in M-G-M, the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer lion tosses its head back and growls on a continuous loop for two minutes. In Goldstein’s treatment of this ubiquitous cinema trademark, the lion’s roar stretches into an almost neurotic repetition. We can also see something that is almost imperceptible in the original: the footage of the lion moves partly in reverse. In making the deception apparent by repeating the footage’s back-and-forth motion, Goldstein invites us to reflect on the cyclical nature of the movie industry–for example, the endless recycling of Hollywood stories.