ROE ETHRIDGE: HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOUISE PARKER II
Gagosian is pleased to announce an exhibition of works by Roe Ethridge entitled Happy Birthday Louise Parker II, presented as a pair of different but interconnected selections at the gallery’s Gstaad and London locations.
July 23 - September 28, 2024
While he explores a diverse array of subjects, from still-life arrangements to fashion shoots and portraits, Ethridge tackles projects with consistent formal rigor, adopting approaches that contribute nuance to the documentation of lived experience and the visual languages of design and commerce.
In works such as Louise on David’s Refrigerator (2012–20) and Louise on Central Park Smoke (2023), both on view in London, Ethridge depicts Parker in the context of both styled modeling spreads and more natural, intimate situations, thereby visualizing the intertwining of life and representation, the everyday and the staged.
While Louise (2014), on view in Gstaad, is an unadorned—albeit sharply detailed—head-and-shoulders portrait, Louise in a Chair for Double (2015), in London, shows Parker striking an impish pose on a seat draped in bright red fabric. An overtly styled image designed to highlight the model’s attire, it was produced for the titular French fashion magazine.
Other works also see Ethridge explore the balance between sleek promotional imagery and spontaneous personal record. Duck for Burberry (2023) and Duck on Glass for Burberry (2023), on view in London and Gstaad, respectively, were produced for a promotional campaign in which the distinctively British animals are paired with the storied British fashion house’s bags and other items, while in London, Candy and Comme des Garçons (2024) presents a similarly incongruous pairing of junk food and high fashion.
By contrast, works such as Auggie with Raccoon Tail (2015) and Lee Lou at Sunset Park Ferry Terminal (2021) (both in Gstaad), while also drawing attention to light and color, shape and arrangement, document Ethridge’s family life. In the London exhibition’s Me and Auggie (2015), a self-portrait with his then five-year-old son, the artist offers a poignant reminder of the passage of time and the cyclical nature of life.
In Gstaad’s Pic ’n Clip #3 (2017) and Pic ’n Clip Glitch NFT (2021), he reveals elements of the processes of selection, editing, and post-production by building layered collages from superimposed components, making visible their occupation of varied and mercurial formats and modes.