TV Legs, from the Phantom Limb series

1987

American, born 1941

Since the 1970s, Leeson has been interested in the representation of women, especially the fabrications of feminine allure in the media.

These two photographs are part of a larger series--called the Phantom Limb series--in which female body parts are replaced or encased by cameras, monitors, or other mediating technology. Leeson described the series as the "absorption of female identity into media and technologies" but the works are equally concerned with the power of media visualizations and how they create benchmarks and stereotypes that affect the perception of our bodies, our psychology and sense of self.

Gelatin Silver Print

24 x 20 inches (61 x 50.8 cm)

Gift of Rod Slemmons

95.79

Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Paranoid Mirror: Lynn Hershman, Aug. 10 - Dec. 10, 1995.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Mechanical Bride, Mar. 8, 2014 - Aug. 10, 2014.

Seattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, Pop Departures. Oct. 9, 2014 - Jan. 11, 2015. Text by Catharina Manchanda, et al. No cat. no., pp. 79, 101, reproduced p. 78.

Published ReferencesGraves, Jen. "To Depart from Pop Art, You Have to Start There in the New Show at Seattle Art Museum," on The Stranger Slog, online (https://slog.the.stranger.com/slog/archives/2014/10/10-to-depart-from-pop-art-you-have-to-start-there-in-the-new-show-at-seattle-art-museum), illus.

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