American artist Roe Ethridge presents the next chapter of his Happy Birthday, Louise Parker Exhibition. A selection of the works will be shown at the Gagosian location in Gstaad, as part of II continues Ethridge’s inquiry into the circulation of images, bridging the worlds of commercial photography and fine art to understand the visual language that shapes consumer behavior.
Researchers estimate that social media users are exposed to up to 10,000 ads a day—a dizzying number of logos, settings, and people carefully positioned to sell you a product or idea. Ethridge analyzes how these widely reproduced images shape perceptions and experiences by mixing his graphic portraits and still lifes with sublimation dyeing techniques. The result is cinematic photographs and abstract product shots that reflect the “unexpected connections forged between the aesthetic codes of fashion,” Gagosian wrote, “and the otherworldly complex visual intersections of everyday life.”
Andy Warhol is considered a major influence on Ethridge, who explored the threshold between the commercial and the conceptual in the 1960s and 1970s. Ethridge was aware of the power of images from an early age, noting in an earlier interview: “It’s that an image can slide from one context to another. If it didn’t have a caption, if it wasn’t historically limited, it could do several things.”
Happy Birthday, Louise Parker II will be on display at Gagosian’s Gstaad location in Switzerland until September 8, 2024.
Gagosian
Promenade 79,
3780 Gstaad, Switzerland
