A Strange Picture of Perfection

Alex Prager, Rita (from the series Week-End), 2009, 37 x 49 inch Chromogenic Print

Photographer Alex Prager describes her native Los Angeles as “A strange picture of perfection… with a sense of unease under the surface of all this beauty and promise.” In the exhibition Week-end at Yancey Richardson Gallery she presents photos of young women in singular moments; beautiful, alone, and uneasy.

The press release from the gallery states that the models are the artist’s friends, that she meticulously plans out the costumes and settings, and that the photos reference films by directors such as David Lynch and Alfred Hitchcock. Formally they are terrific to look at: wonderfully composed portraits with dramatic action taking place in each of the women’s faces. But are these pictures more than psychological studies of lead actresses or homages to great movie directors?

Each photo looks like a still from a film, and is bereft of any story line except that which the viewer brings to it. In this sense, it is a choose-your-own-adventure. However, the work doesn’t go as far as the 1967 film Week End by the film director Jean-Luc Godard, pointing to overindulgence, egotism, and consumerism. This film follows a couple’s nightmarish adventures on a trip to the countryside. Prager’s photos may have a style influenced by the great filmmaker however.

In the same bulding, I stopped at CRG gallery a floor below and came upon a group exhibition called Language of Flowers. The works are wonderfully unique and intimate, with each artist’s style on display to exquisite effect. As a viewer you begin to wonder which is better — looking at real flowers or artworks inspired by them?

The exhibition seems to pivot on the eponymous text of Georges Bataille, from which comes this quote that ties the two gallery experiences together — “They die ridiculously on stems that seemed to carry them to the clouds.”