Inspired by the painting “Man Ray 1914”, in which Man Ray used his own name as a motive and an artistic object, Elodie Grethen’s playful approach to language permits a “poetic subversion”. In this manner, the alienation from Man Ray’s own name and signature is attributed a new meaning and is simultaneously placed in a feminist context that allow the viewer to question the objectification and reification of women in his oeuvre.

The second piece by Grethen, “Autoportraits solarisés” is a series of 9 unique self portraits. By portraying herself, the female body becomes simultaneously subject and object of the work, photographer and model, thus subtracting itself from the gaze of the male artist. She borrows the technique of solarisation, a technique developed by Lee Miller and Man Ray, which should become his trademark without her getting any recognition at the time. The effects of the solarisation add to the transfiguration of the body: the form of the woman as object/subject fades behind the multiplication of the visages.

The two pieces has been produced for the exhibition “Auge in Auge mit Man Ray”, at tresor des Bank Austria Kunstforums Wien, curated by Lisa Ortner-Kreil in cooperation with Schule Friedl Kubelka für künstlerische Photographie, Wien under the direction of Anja Manfredi.

Woman Ray 2018 & Autoportraits solarisés, Installation view: Auge in Auge mit Man Ray, Kunstforumder Bank Austria Wien, Vienna, 2018