Hannah Wilke Through the Large Glass

Hannah Wilke Through the Large Glass

Hannah Wilke
1976, 10 min, color, silent, 16 mm film on video

Description

Hannah Wilke Through the Large Glass documents one of Wilke's most effective and well-known performances, in which she performs a deadpan striptease behind Duchamp's The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, Even (also known as The Large Glass) at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Dressed in a fedora and a white suit, and evoking the style of 1970s' fashion icons such as Helmut Newton and Yves Saint-Laurent, Wilke strikes a series of poses and then strips. She is seen through the glass of the Duchamp sculpture. In her self-conscious affectation of the often absurdist posturing of a fashion model, Wilke willfully uses her own image and her sexuality to confront the erotic representation of women in art history and popular culture.

This piece was originally seen as part of an installation.

Made for the film "Befragung der Freiheitsstatue C'est La Vie Rrose" by Hans-Christof Stenzel. Camera: Lothar E. Stickelbrucks. Editor: Rosemarie Stenzel-Quast. Performed at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, June 15, 1976.

Exhibition & Distribution Conditions

Please call the EAI office for acquisition inquiries.

This is a video transfer of a work initially shot on film. This is best shown as a projection, to reflect the original medium.
Projection Installation Checklist & Guidelines