Uno’s
Artist
Darryl Curran
(American, 1935)
Date1975
MediumCyanotype
Dimensions15 x 22 in.
ClassificationsPhotograph
Credit LineGift of Darryl Curran in memory of Carole Briant, 2020
Object number2021.1.4
DescriptionHorizontal composition showing moustachioed man in a button-front shirt with two front pockets seated at a table, seen from mid-forehead to mid-torso, left arm extended in front of him. At left, two arms holding a plate of food extend into the picture. To the left of man’s head and at right edge is a pattern of dots. His face and other details are whited-out due to use of camera flash.eMuseum Notes
This cyanotype, an early photographic process that results in blue prints, features the artist himself at the famous Chicago restaurant Uno’s. Instead of creating a straightforward portrait, Curran blasts his exposure with the camera’s flash, almost completely obscuring his face and dinner. The artist is interested in pressing against the boundaries of acceptable photographic practice and exploring what the medium can do outside of the realm of description. In this case, the dazzle of light recreates the experience of being photographed in a dark room, leaving our eyes disoriented and searching for something on which to focus.
On View
Not on view
