Robert Heinecken: Object Matter

_Fractured Figure Sections_

Robert Heinecken. Fractured Figure Sections. 1967

Gelatin silver prints on wood blocks, 8 1/4 x 3 x 3" (21 x 7.6 x 7.6 cm). The Photography Council Fund and Committee on Photography Fund. © 2018 The Robert Heinecken Trust

Glenn Lowry: In Fractured Figure Sections, the wooden segments are covered with photographic details of a nude woman's body. Heinecken made a number of these objects in the 1960s—they were originally designed to be manipulated by the viewer so that the images could continuously be realigned in different ways. Curatorial Fellow Drew Sawyer.

Drew Sawyer: Heinecken was particularly interested in the multiplicity of meanings and configurations throughout his career. So, for example, in Fractured Figure Sections, three of which are in the exhibition, the figure never can be combined to create an entire or whole body. Of the pieces you can see in this vitrine, Heinecken took most of the photographs. As he did throughout his life, he would reuse his own photographs in multiple ways. Here he's cut them up into separate pieces, pasted them onto Masonite blocks, or sandwiched them in between Plexi. His photo sculptures are in dialogue with more participatory modes of art, production and reception, whether it's performance art or happenings.

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