| In 1997, Aptekar selected a number of seventeenth- to early-nineteenth-century paintings from the Corcoran’s collection as the basis for an exhibition of thirty works titled Talking to Pictures. He explored the works through extensive archival research as well as interviews with Corcoran curators, art students, the general public, and museum guards. Aptekar’s interaction with the groups yielded a broad range of responses, which he incorporated into painted revisions of historical works that read as palimpsests of old and new. The comments of contemporary viewers—such as the art student’s description of a self-portrait by Walter Shirlaw as “boring”—often appear in the texts overlaying Aptekar’s adaptations. These remarks, along with autobiographical narratives, are paired with Aptekar’s “copies” of paintings from the museum’s collection. . . .
- Paige Turner, formerly Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art
Corcoran Gallery of Art |
Text excerpted from A Capital Collection: Masterworks from
the Corcoran Gallery of Art.
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