Untitled (Mono Lake)
Artist
Todd Gray
(American; born Los Angeles, CA, born 1954)
Date1983
MediumDye-destruction print
DimensionsImage: 23 × 18 5/16 in. (58.4 × 46.6 cm)
Mat: 30 1/2 × 25 1/2 in. (77.5 × 64.8 cm)
Mat: 30 1/2 × 25 1/2 in. (77.5 × 64.8 cm)
ClassificationsPhotograph
Credit LineGift of Patricia Watts, 2021
Object number2022.8.1
DescriptionVertical landscape with color view of spiky volcanic formations (tufa), tallest of which is wrapped in red fabric and tied with long string. Top half of composition is blue sky with possible distant view of lake.eMuseum Notes
As if the limestone formations around Mono Lake weren’t unusual enough, Todd Gray decided to cloak one of them in vibrant red fabric and wrap it securely, making an image that has more to do with conceptual art than landscape photography. The bright fabric suggests ornamentation but the way it is tied suggests bondage, concealment, or perhaps theft. This straightforward yet evocative strategy recalls the work of artists such as Marcel Duchamp or Christo and Jeanne-Claude or photographs of performances in the 1970s.
On View
Not on view
David Scheinbaum
1999 (printed 2006)
