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
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

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 (2 items)

Ron Ho, Necklace Made for Patti Warashina, n.d., silver, leather, and Plexiglas with two wood carvings by Julia Harrison and a carved wooden Japanese mask, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Patti Warashina, 2021.86.1
Necklace Made for Patti Warashina
Artist
Daten.d.
silver, leather, and Plexiglas with two wood carvings by Julia Harrison and a carved wooden Japanese mask
Not on view
Foil Toil (necklace)
Artist
Date1998
plexiglass, silver, copper, and leather
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, 2016March 5, 2017
Watch This! New Directions in the Art of the Moving Image is a series of rotating exhibitions drawn from SAAM’s permanent collection.

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We Are All Warmed by the Same Sun
Date2012
cotton fabric, cotton thread, and cotton batt
Not on view
Sandra Noble, The Little Rock Nine, 2012, cotton fabric and batting, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Carolyn L. Mazloomi, 2023.20.4, © 2023, Sandra E. Noble
The Little Rock Nine
Date2012
cotton fabric and batting
Not on view
Marion Coleman, Her Heart Was in the Clouds, 2012, cotton fabric, cotton thread, and cotton batt, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Fleur S. Bresler, 2023.40.14
Her Heart Was in the Clouds
Date2012
cotton fabric, cotton thread, and cotton batt
Not on view
L'Merchie Frazier, Robert Smalls: Wheeling Freedom, 2015, organdy, tulle, and cotton batt, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Fleur S. Bresler, 2023.40.10, © 2023, L'Merchie Frazier
Robert Smalls: Wheeling Freedom
Date2015
organdy, tulle, and cotton batt
Not on view