Elaine Sturtevant understands the power of images. The American artist who worked most of her life in Paris devoted her career to make her own versions of works of her contemporaries: Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Joseph Beuys, and Felix Gozales-Torres. When the audience is confronted with her work, they mistakenly take her work for someone else's original. "Repetition is not the same as copying," says Sturtevant. "We are now living in the age where images are no longer representations of something."
Images courtesy: Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Sturtevant. Study for Rosenquist’s Spaghetti & Grass. 1965–66. Oil on canvas. 40 7/8 × 40 1/8″(103.8 × 101.9 cm). Lonti Ebers. Photo: Adam Reich. © Estate Sturtevant, Paris
Sturtevant. Johns 0 through 9. 1965. Encaustic on newsprint. 10 13/16 × 14 3/8″ (27.5 × 36.5 cm). Collection de Bruin Heijn. Photo: Peter Cox. © Estate Sturtevant, Paris
Sturtevant. Elastic Tango. 2010. Nine-channel video installation. 87 3/8 x 158 x 27 in. (221.9 x 401.3 x 68.6 cm); video: color, sound, 11 min., 2 sec. Private collection, Switzerland. Courtesy Gavin Brown’s enterprise. Photo: Thomas Mueller. © Estate Sturtevant, Paris