Dogtown, from the Hartley series

John O'Reilly, American, 1930 - 2021

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February 27, 2009

Polaroid, color copier, halftone, silver print montage

Sheet: 12 × 16 5/8 in. (30.5 × 42.2 cm)

Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Gift of Jeffry A. Pond, Class of 1967, in honor of the Founding of Triangle House at Dartmouth College

2015.18.1

Geography

Place Made: United States, North America

Period

21st century

Object Name

Photograph

Research Area

Photograph

Not on view

Label

Using clippings from art historical books, male pornography, and photographs of the boulder-filled landscape of coastal Massachusetts, O’Reilly’s photomontages create dreamlike reveries where abstract visuals and emotions bleed into one another.

In Dogtown, body and landscape become one. Crashing waves and stone inscribed with "LOVE U" surround a central torso, all of which seems to occupy a domestic interior. The figures are non-specific, with faces obscured. Yet, O’Reilly builds up a personal identity—connecting body, soul, and queer sexuality—situated in an environment of turbulence.

From the 2023 exhibition A Space for Dialogue 111, Taking Up Space: Forming Body and Identity, curated by Milanne Berg '24, Homma Family Intern

Exhibition History

A Space for Dialogue 111, Taking Up Space: Forming Body and Identity, Milanne Berg, Class of 2024, Homma Family Intern, Alvin P. Gutman Gallery, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, 4 March - 22 April 2023.

Provenance

The artist; Stendhal Galleries, Los Angeles; Clars Auction House, Oakland, California; Ann and Ross Waller, Lexington, Virginia; Jeffry A. Pond, Boston, Massachusetts; given to present collection, 2015.

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