KESZLER GALLERY – SOUTHAMPTON, N. Y.

Today, I visited this empty, spacious gallery. These photos are huge, especially the super-giant, (about 12 feet by 8 feet), photo collages of Marilyn and now, new American icon, Elizabeth. The technique of assembling hundreds, or even thousands, of tiny photos of a person, creating one, recognizable face, in a collage, is not new. Some cheap, automated software programs do it, though this artist may have done it manually. Other photos, such as “Cassius Clay”, are simply “found photos”, possibly even newspaper photos, blown up, with dust intact. I found all this work to be shallow and commercial. The price list was a secret, but I am sure they are quite expensive. These images are so Hamptons-esque, and certainly not heading for the Whitney anytime soon. Sex and celebrity still sell.