Saint Louis Art Museum Will Present Video Work By Argentine Artist Liliana Porter

St. Louis MO

22 April, 2022

4:37 PM

Description

Press release from the St. Louis Art Museum: April 21, 2022 The Saint Louis Art Museum's next presentation of film in Gallery 301 will feature "Fox in the Mirror," a 2007 film by Argentine artist Liliana Porter (born 1941). For years Porter has collected small toys, trinkets and memorabilia from secondhand stores and flea markets, which she repurposes across all media. This free exhibition will be on view from May 6 through Sept. 11 in Gallery 301. The 19-minute video is comprised of short vignettes depicting some of these objects. Some are mechanical and perform simple tasks, and most are manipulated in some way by the artist to suggest movement and interaction. In this way Porter demonstrates imaginative play as artistic process and suggests narratives with inanimate objects. Porter collaborated with sound designer Sylvia Meyer to couple piano scores, solos or choir music for each scene. The tiny figurines and animals become convincingly expressive, representing a range of feelings from nostalgia and loneliness to nationalism and intimacy. By juxtaposing inherently political imagery, such as Mao Zedong, with ostensibly apolitical objects, such as a miniature duck or porcelain musician, "Fox in the Mirror" questions the distinction between these categories, while the accompanying soundtrack adds a layer of suggested meaning. The museum acquired two prints and one sculpture by Porter in 2020 as part of the Ted L. and Maryanne Ellison Simmons Collection, and all will be included in the upcoming exhibition "Catching the Moment: Contemporary Art from the Ted L. and Maryanne Ellison Simmons Collection." The exhibition is curated by Andrea Ferber, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellow for Prints, Drawings, and Photographs. This press release was produced by the City of St. Louis. The views expressed here are the author's own.