A Response to William Wegman’s Exhibition

Yimei Han

Prof. Michals

COMD2330/D190

10 October 2017

A Response to William Wegman’s Exhibition

The show of Dressed and Undressed that William Wegman was exhibiting at Sperone Westwater recently was the photograph of dogs’ portraits. This show occupied the third and fourth floor of the gallery, two rectangular rooms installed thirty images total. All the photos were created by using 20×24 Polaroid camera which means the images can’t be retouched after taking them. Wegman captured the exact moment of what he had seen or arranged. These images were taken about thirty years ago from 1979 to 2007. What makes the show so special was the majority of the dogs in the images were dressed like a human.

Wegman started his iconic work since the 70s. His models were his Weimaraners which usually wear human costumes or decorate by eccentric ornaments. Wegman placed his models in front of a solid coated background in the majority of his photos of the exhibit that created a simple and clear composition. Although some of his models just stayed still in the picture frame, their human-like expressions and odd decorations were made the photos interesting enough to capture viewer’s eyes. This show titled Dressed and Undressed aimed to express human side of dogs. They could be costumed as human or act like a human. Although their expression is serious, the pictures were still defined as goofy or hilarious style. Because they were dogs being human, not a real human. Wegman’s work contained visual tricks, such as “Quacker” which placed the model behind a transparent illustrated poster. If you saw the image in distance it looks like cartoon poster, actually it is a real dog photograph. The “Parcheesi” also had a visual trick in it. The colorful background and the organic shapes created an abstract composition which references to famous paintings. The “Daisy Nut Cake” also reminded me of Italian painter Giuseppe Arcimboldo’s work who used fruits and vegetables to create human faces.

I think the most attractive photograph among the thirty was “Twisted Hope” which was the medium shot dog’s portrait. Weimaraner was costumed by grayish turtleneck and the sleeves were tied in the front. The subject matter was placed in the middle of the composition its left eye was in the center which called the dominant eye. Wegman also used shallow space technique to focus on the dog’s face and the body part was blurry. Additionally, I think the dog was standing on the chair to reach human’s eye level. It also gave us an illusion that the dog was standing like a human. When I was in the exhibit I didn’t pay much attention to the “Twisted Hope”. The reason why I ignore it at first place I think was the monotonous color it didn’t pop-up among others. However, I couldn’t forget the dog’s despairing eyes. The model’s expression, the pose she made and the way she was dressed that just like a hopeless housewife. She looked upward as if she was seeking for help and wanted other people’s attention. Then I saw this photograph was titled “Twisted Hope” that fitted the photograph perfectly.