Rosalyn Drexler, Marilyn Pursued by Death, 1963

Alex Da Corte: My name is Alex Da Corte, and I'm an artist living and working in Philadelphia. 

Marilyn Pursued by Death is a portrait of a memory that is not one's own, but shared in culture through media. Here it is a collaged photograph of Marilyn Monroe and her bodyguard running off the edge of a canvas. Around their body is the thinly painted red line. Beyond this redness is a black void, which recalls minimal stage design, something one might see in a Beckett play. Drexler was known for making paintings with found imagery, redacting all but what she felt was essential for telling a story or recreating a story, making a new memory.

Rosalyn Drexler once said, "Violence is the most intimate thing that can happen to a person." In Marilyn Pursued by Death, the violence put upon her could be blackness. It could be that which is off the edge of the canvas or out of the picture frame. Here, the violence could be you, the viewer.