Larry Johnson
American, born 1959
Untitled (John-John and Bobby)
INV-2106
Larry Johnson
American, born 19591988
Untitled (John-John and Bobby)
Larry Johnson American, born 1959 →photographchromogenic color print
Date
1988
Medium
Chromogenic prints
Dimensions
Two framed panels, each: 223.6 × 111.8 × 10.2 cm (88 × 44 × 4 in.); frame: 223.6 × 111.8 × 10.2 cm (88 1/16 × 44 1/16 × 4 1/16 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Contemporary Art Discretionary Fund
Larry Johnson is an idiosyncratic artist whose signature style consists of graphic photographed collages that demonstrate his consuming passion for celebrity, advertising, and the cultures and subcultures of Southern California. Untitled (John-John and Bobby) is part of a series that Johnson began in 1985; centering on the Kennedy family, it demonstrates his interest not only in individual family members, but also in the era of American society and politics that they typify. This work consists of a fictional account by Johnson, which bears no connection to the Kennedy family other than the names and the reference in the first panel to “Kennedy half-dollars.” The disjointed story fragment includes a pornographic account of the hustler lifestyle and more broadly addresses how the media packages public figures and represents them as entertainment.
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