Explore David Levinthal’s intimate portraits of dolls that reveal the hidden desires and cultural myths shaping American sexuality.
Intimate Alchemy: David Levinthal’s XXX Polaroids
Alchemist David Levinthal transforms plastic into XXX flesh
I like to get to the point of an assumed reality, balanced with the knowledge that it is not real. —David Levinthal, 20001
David Levinthal burst onto the art photography scene in 1977 with the publication of Hitler Moves East: A Graphic Chronicle, 1941–43. The book’s images forecast what would become his signature approach. By arranging toys—in this case miniature German soldiers—in fabricated settings and photographing them with controlled lighting and extremely narrow focus, he achieved trompe l’oeil realism. For nearly five decades Levinthal has applied this approach to a wide range of subject matter, most of it centered on American culture. Working in series, he explored such themes as the wild west, baseball, war, space exploration, and racism. In 10 of his 22 series, he examined human sexuality. Postmodern theorists have cited Levinthal as a key figure in deconstructing popular culture and myth. (more…)
Director’s Note: Welcome to Intimate Alchemy: David Levinthal’s XXX Polaroids!
We are thrilled to sponsor this co-curated exhibition featuring incredible photographs at one of IU Bloomington’s prized spaces to experience great art, the Grunwald Gallery of Art in the Eskenazi School of Art, Architecture + Design.
Great shows emerge from great talent, and there is so much of that to acknowledge and thank here. The David Levinthal works included in this exhibition came to the Kinsey Institute from an acclaimed art collector named Don Sanders, based in Houston, Texas, who has become a cherished friend to many of the artists he collects and likewise to the Kinsey Institute. Don came to us via Malcolm Daniel, Curator of Photography at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Texas, who is also a former Trustee of the Kinsey Institute board. We are deeply grateful to Don for his generous donation of materials, and to Malcolm for his continued friendship and thoughtful support. (more…)
Embodied Desires: An Introduction to Intimate Alchemy
Dr. Alfred Kinsey’s groundbreaking research recognized erotica as vital evidence of our sexual experiences. Dr. Kinsey’s sex research library, a cornerstone of the Kinsey Institute, captures a broad spectrum of human sexual experience. Importantly, it reveals collective curiosity in understanding the complexities, challenges, and representations of human sexuality, the human body, and our desires and fantasies.
David Levinthal’s photographs and model kit figures, generously donated by Mr. Don Sanders in 2017, continue this exploration of human curiosity. His work reflects and contributes to our collective imagination, an “embodied desire.” Levinthal’s art captures through layers of imagined worlds of mystery, beauty, and intrigue. Today, our understanding of human experiences has expanded to our complex relationship with artifacts and inanimate objects. Levinthal’s insights into sexuality and desire are timely, insightful, and refreshing. (more…)
Soft Edge: An Artist’s Journey
She enters the scene from the left. Her face anchors the image at the upper left like a staple fastening a stack of paper. The profile of her body creates a vertical column on the edge of the image that accentuates its vertical orientation. Her extended arm divides the upper and lower halves. Her hand dissolves into the objects behind her outward gesture, fading into soft edges and abstract shapes. Her breast suggests surgical augmentation, capped with a small triangular pink nipple. Indiscernible shapes and reflected light balance the weight on the opposite side of the photograph.
Is she a dancer peeking out at an audience before going on stage? Is she searching for someone after a performance? Will the bold makeup preserve her facial features under intense artificial light? Is she in a theater, a nightclub, or a private room? She appears to be the sole figure isolated in a mysterious space. We wonder: “Who is she?” One of David Levinthal’s strategies is to keep the viewer “uncertain, on edge” about the possibility that the objects he photographs could be stand-ins for the “real thing.”[1]