In The Reign of Narcissism, Barbara Bloom creates a personal museum devoted to her own likeness, which is emblazoned on all of the objects in the collection, including Greek-style sculptures and bas-reliefs, tea sets and chocolates displayed in vitrines, a tombstone, and a published series of books entitled The Complete Works of Barbara Bloom (1989). These are displayed in a hexagonal parlor-style room that evokes the private museum. A parody of the monomania that can consume collectors, this work is, for the artist, "less related to Freudian narcissism than it is to the narcissistic aspects of artmaking and collecting."
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Barbara Bloom.
The Reign of Narcissism. 1988-89.
Mixed media installation,
overall (approx.) 12 x 20 x 20' (365 x 609 x 609 cm). The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles. Purchased with funds provided by The Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation, Los Angeles. Photo: © 1989 Ken Schles, courtesy Gorney, Bravin & Lee, New York
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