| They are runaways from broken homes with parents who don’t know what
to do. Two American teens, caught in a tentative clasp, naked except for that
bracelet,
holding on to each other for dear life. They seem to exist outside of time;
there is no yesterday, no tomorrow, only now and the pure comfort of this awkward
moment
that brings them together.
Destiny and Napoleon have been wakened abruptly from nightmares of big homes
and fast cars. Their new shelter, a squat under the Hollywood Freeway, is noisy
and dangerous, and they live day by day in this underground warren teeming
with kids and their exploiters. Destiny stares off into space, as the photographer’s
flash cascades off Napoleon’s back, catching her bracelet brightly glinting
like the mirror ball above the dancers at her senior prom. This fractured rainbow
of light symbolizes her broken dreams; the bracelet represents memories of
her past and her loss of innocence. She wanted to be a regular kid, but now
her diamond-hard
eyes give away the fear she tries to hide. As in a 1920s fashion photo, a kaleidoscope
of light reflected from the bracelet holds the center of the picture, joining
these two lost souls in a timeless embrace. . . .
:: Philip Brookman, Director of Curatorial Affairs
Corcoran Gallery of Art |
Text excerpted from A Capital Collection: Masterworks from
the Corcoran Gallery of Art.
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:: The Curator's Journals Project
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