Atelier 31 | Artists

JUDITH KINDLER / PHOTOGRAPHY

Don’t Hate Me Because I’m Beautiful (A parody on life and what we admire)

We have all looked at art, at popular icons or concepts of beauty and have questioned why and how we have come to select certain subjects as admirable, beautiful, desirable, etc. Judith Kindler takes on this question in this body of photography “Don’t Hate Me Because I’m Beautiful.”

Playing with and referencing our culture, art and its icons, the artist brings new meanings through humor, re-contextualizing, and satire. All photographed in the artist’s studio in Seattle, she plays with her models, back-dropping them with the starkness of an empty or nearly empty space or contrasting with sets that are more elaborate. Yet all maintain a simple focus and composition, along with the psychological overtones of the imagery typical of the artist’s oeuvre.

This oeuvre was described in 2004 by Bellevue Arts Museum ’s Curator, Stefano Catalani, in “Defining Truth/ Judith Kindler ” as follows: “The composition of the photographs is minimal, reduced to standing girls and young women in white delicate clothing, often against an indefinite and blurred background. The spatial perception here is blind, almost dimensionless, except for the human figure. The white atmosphere is rarified, suspended, though charged at times with symptoms of tension: A sudden gesture of embrace, eye contact with the viewer, lifted hands, or eyes cast down. . . Judith Kindler builds up the narrative and iconographic space . . . a repertoire of symbols and seminal ideas projected out for readers able to decipher.”

Kindler explains: “Different than my photo-based encaustic work where I create layers of narrative through the addition of encaustic, oils and inscribing, in this purely photographic work, I create the narrative, through a combination of props at play with the subjects. Through a feeling of documentation in the photographic approach, I try to create a sense of gravity to the situations I place the figure/s in, even when there is humor at play.

The photographs are printed with Ultrachrome K3 Archival Pigmented Inks on Ultra- Premium Luster Photo Paper. The artist’s signature/mark and edition number appear in the lower right hand corner of the image.

The series of 36 photographs are each available in two sizes: 60” X 40” – edition of 3 and 40“ X 26.67” – edition of 3 and all were created in 2009

Click on photo to see larger image and availability

More Work