Exhibition Review: Anne Collier
Filter #4 (Blue), 2021 © Anne Collier. Images courtesy of the artist; Anton Kern Gallery, New York; Galerie Neu, Berlin; Gladstone Gallery, Brussels; and The Modern Institute/ Toby Webster Ltd., Glasgow
Written by Nick Rutolo
Anne Collier purposely tries to have us understand the connections we develop with images and photography, and how our perception of the art shapes our understanding and perception of ourselves socially and culturally. Her recent work with vintage comics simultaneously dissociates from the original release and embraces the “classic” production techniques used to make these images so impactful. By reproducing these images with modernity, she adds a new filter to the original ideas, providing the initial images with a new lens and perception. By enlarging these prints, she draws attention to the original production techniques, providing us with the ability to intimately see them for what they are.
Woman Crying #20, 2021 © Anne Collier. Images courtesy of the artist; Anton Kern Gallery, New York; Galerie Neu, Berlin; Gladstone Gallery, Brussels; and The Modern Institute/ Toby Webster Ltd., Glasgow
Woman Crying #21, 2021 © Anne Collier. Images courtesy of the artist; Anton Kern Gallery, New York; Galerie Neu, Berlin; Gladstone Gallery, Brussels; and The Modern Institute/ Toby Webster Ltd., Glasgow
Collier initially depicts the same image of a vintage comic strip multiple times to explore the relationship we develop with the essences of these images. She uses an iconic image of a woman crying to add depth to pain; sorrow and grief are not the same as frustration and anger, but here, they undoubtedly look the same. By enlarging these images, we’re enticed to look deeper into its production, and potentially, an audience will search with intent to find the roots within their own emotions. These images aren’t presented solely as images, they’re placed within an image reel, revealing the movement between the images; as the audience progresses from one depiction to the next, the emotion develops along with them. Using different colored filters, Collier aims to shift our perception of the emotional landscape evoked from frame to frame, because although the image rarely changes, our perception of it drasticallydoes. This defines how minor shifts in the image, or more broadly the object of our focus, shapes our experience.
Mirror (Black & White), 2021 © Anne Collier. Images courtesy of the artist; Anton Kern Gallery, New York; Galerie Neu, Berlin; Gladstone Gallery, Brussels; and The Modern Institute/ Toby Webster Ltd., Glasgow
Accompanying the vintage strips are open ended quizzes, cassettes with quotes, and pictures that parallel the initial prints. The quizzes leave us room to reflect; a questionnaire about our uniqueness prompts us to think about our strengths and shortcomings, while a less subjective “stress test” has us rate our priorities and concerns. Presumably, the answers you would have for these questions would be different before viewing Filters and after based on the emotional shift you retain. The mirrored photographs provide longevity and a sense of timelessness to the emotions initially evoked, and the cassettes mirror the dichotomy of the past having a relevance to the present. One cassette reads “Women Who Love Too Much” which shows the relationship Collier’s work has with gender and production, while another reads “Are You Out of Your Mind?” both of which explore the core of the self-help industry, language, and the choice of aesthetics.
Filter #4 (Cyan), 2021 © Anne Collier. Images courtesy of the artist; Anton Kern Gallery, New York; Galerie Neu, Berlin; Gladstone Gallery, Brussels; and The Modern Institute/ Toby Webster Ltd., Glasgow
Filter #4 (Yellow), 2021 © Anne Collier. Images courtesy of the artist; Anton Kern Gallery, New York; Galerie Neu, Berlin; Gladstone Gallery, Brussels; and The Modern Institute/ Toby Webster Ltd., Glasgow
Anne Collier was born in Los Angeles in 1970 but works and lives in New York. She’s had exhibitions in Germany, Switzerland, France, Chicago, New York, and Canada, and is part of permanent collections in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Toronto, Paris, London, Switzerland and others. You can see her other works in her most recent monographic publication: Anne Collier- Photographic, at the MOMA, The Whitney Museum of American Art, The Guggenheim, as well as many others. Filters is on display at the Anton Kern Gallery in New York City from now until October 23, 2021.
Photographer, 2021 © Anne Collier. Images courtesy of the artist; Anton Kern Gallery, New York; Galerie Neu, Berlin; Gladstone Gallery, Brussels; and The Modern Institute/ Toby Webster Ltd., Glasgow
