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Smoke & Mirrors #10

2005

American, born 1972

Eileen Quinlan's highly abstract photographs from her series Smoke and Mirrors critique the medium of photography itself. Unlike many of her contemporaries, Quinlan's photographs are never manipulated by digital technology-they are staged in a darkroom using "common tricks of the trade" to produce a tremendous variety of visually complicated and fragmented compositions that are entirely non-narrative. She relies instead on such devices as overlapping mirrored panes, which push and pull the surfaces to produce three-dimensionality, as well as shadows and reflections that are either slightly obscured by smoke or intensified by her use of color bouncing off materials like Mylar and foil. At its core, Smoke and Mirrors deals with illusion and reality or photographic veracity. In Quinlan's own words: "I'm interested in the false transparency of the photographic image. It's not a window, but a mirror."

UV laminated chromogenic print

20 x 16 in. (50.8 x 40.6 cm) in metal frame, unglazed

Purchased with funds from Kim Richter and Betty Tong

2007.88

Not currently on view

Resources

Exhibition HistorySeattle, Washington, Seattle Art Museum, "Smoke and Mirrors", May 10 - November 9, 2008

London, England, Eileen Quinlan, Sutton Lane, September 9 - October 7, 2006 (9/9 - 10/7/2007)

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