Face in the Crowd

Alex Prager, Face in the Crowd, 2013, three-channel video installation, color, sound; 11:52 minutes, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2016.29.1, © 2013, Alex Prager

Artwork Details

Title
Face in the Crowd
Artist
Sound
Date
2013
Location
Not on view
Copyright
© 2013, Alex Prager
Credit Line
Museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment
Mediums
Mediums Description
three-channel video installation, color, sound; 11:52 minutes
Classifications
Subjects
  • Figure group
Object Number
2016.29.1
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/2016.29.1

Artwork Description

Alex Prager draws inspiration from the rich color photography of William Eggleston and the Southern California moviemaking industry. Her studio mirrors that of large-scale film productions, resulting in the works that project a distinctive Hollywood aesthetic. Littered with parodied clichés of popular cinema and renderings of narrative tension, anxiety, and suspense, Face in the Crowd traces a spectrum of concerns: a fear of crowds and the desire to stand out among them; voyeurism and exhibitionism; the spectator's gaze; and the inability to live up to expectations. This work showcases the anxiety of being swept up by the masses while trying to create and maintain a sense of self--conditions long present in the physical world--amplified in the virtual spaces we inhabit today.

Works by this artist (10 items)

View all artworks
Myron Lechay, Painting no. 3--Courtyard New Orleans, 1938, oil on linen, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Dorothy C. Miller, 1968.116.10
Painting no. 3 – Courtyard New Orleans
Artist
Date1938
oil on linen
Not on view
Myron Lechay, Head, 1939, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Dorothy C. Miller, 1968.116.1
Head
Artist
Date1939
oil on canvas
Not on view
Myron Lechay, Bourbon Street, 1941, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Dorothy C. Miller, 1968.116.2
Bourbon Street
Artist
Date1941
oil on canvas
Not on view
Myron Lechay, Street, New Orleans, 1941, oil on canvas, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Dorothy C. Miller, 1968.116.3
Street, New Orleans
Artist
Date1941
oil on canvas
Not on view

Exhibitions

Media - 2016.29.3 - SAAM-2016.29.3_1 - 124404
Watch This! New Directions on the Art of the Moving Image (5.0)
September 9, 2016–March 5, 2017
Smithsonian American Art Museum
Watch This! New Directions in the Art of the Moving Image is a series of rotating exhibitions drawn from SAAM’s permanent collection.

More Artworks from the Collection

Browse All Artworks
Image Not Available
Bently
Artist
Dateca. 1975
gelatin silver print
Not on view
Eugene Von Bruenchenhein, Untitled, ca. 1945-1950, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Lewis and Jean Greenblatt, 2002.86.9
Untitled
Artist
Dateca. 1945-1950
gelatin silver print
Not on view
Eugene Von Bruenchenhein, Untitled, ca. 1945-1950, gelatin silver print, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Lewis and Jean Greenblatt, 2002.86.7
Untitled
Artist
Dateca. 1945-1950
gelatin silver print
Not on view
Jared French, Margaret French, PaJaMa, Paul Cadmus, PaJaMa (Box A), ca. 1937, gelatin silver prints, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Bequest of Margaret French, 1999.98.5.16
PaJaMa (Box A)
Artist
Dateca. 1937
gelatin silver prints
Not on view