This is a two floor exhibition called “Dressed and Undressed” by William Wegman, at the Sperone Westwater. Photographer Wegman fills the space with 20” by 24” Polaroid photographs of his weimaraners dogs. Presented with human like characteristics. As the elevator doors open you are captured by two pictures of his dogs. The dogs in the photographs are sitting looking right at you as if they were expecting you. As you make a right and enter the full exhibition, the space is wide with white walls, white ceiling, and a white floor, giving the exhibition the importance it needs. Every photograph is inside a black frame and lights from the ceiling light them individually. Overall a well presented exhibition.
Anthropomorphism is evident in many of Wegman’s works. For example in many of his pictures he has his dogs wearing human clothes or human accessories which results in a humorous way to tell a story. Every image tells the viewer a story whether is a bad hair day or just a normal day at work. Stories about an object, a thing, or a human. Its techniques include the use of filling the frame, the rule of thirds, symmetry, leading lines, motion, exaggeration, depth of field, etc. Some of his photographs are simply close ups of his dogs, like their legs, in which the viewer can appreciate shape, contrast, and of course his beautiful animals. Wegman’s unique way of captivating the viewer is by using this impression of what it is to be human.
My favorite is the bad hair day. This is a portrait of one his dogs staring right at you with a messed up black wig covering his left eye. Aside from being a funny photograph it is a good example of figure to ground since the subject is dark and the background is bright, and depth of field since the focus is set only on the face and hair. What caught my attention about this photo is the contrast between the well groomed dog compared to the messed up hair. One can tell this wig was just thrown on the dogs head and the dog is oblivious to whats going on, which makes it hilarious.
When you state in your first paragraph that the images of the two dogs welcome you into the gallery as if they were expecting you, it really sets the scene. It isn’t just that anthropomorphism is evident in some of the works, that is the driving force behind the whole show and the artists work for over 30 years. the photo you select to describe is very funny. Its actual title is “Wiggled.” Any wig on a dog is silly but here the dog’s piercing look at us makes us relate to it as if it had human emotions.