to Adrian Rodriguez, with love
Melanie Willhide’s photographs are obviously manipulated. Her images, which once read like straight photography, are now blatantly distorted. Instead of aiming for Photoshop perfection, Willhide presents subjects that are digitally sliced and repeated, colors which are amplified to the point of saturation, in a playful demonstration of the medium’s capacity for the inauthentic.
Beefcake and Betsy, Archival pigment print, 2011, 28 x 30 inches, Edition of 5
I will show you mine, if you show me mine!, Archival pigment print, 2011, 30 x 28 inches, Edition of 5
Trick #2 and Trick # 4, Palm Springs, June, Archival pigment print, 2011, 30 x 28 inches, Edition of 5
Larry's Lips, Archival pigment print, 2011, 30 x 28 inches, Edition 5
Little Boy Blue 2000, Archival pigment print, 2011, 30 x 28 inches, Edition of 5
Untitled, (the Jack Benny House #2), Archival pigment print, 2011, 30 x 28, Edition of 5
The title to Adrian Rodriguez, with love is a dedication to the stranger who burglarized the artist’s home in spring of 2010. Willhide’s computer was among the objects stolen. When it was recovered by police the contents of its hard drive had been erased. The corrupted files recovered by Willhide serve as the inspiration for the series. Choosing to work in partnership with her machine, Willhide treated the pixels more like paint, further enhancing the distorted images while highlighting the fragile limits of an increasingly digital medium.
Marjorie in May, Haight/Ashbury, 2006, Archival pigment print, 2011, 28 x 30 inches, Edition of 5
T and V, Mesa Elks, 2008, 2011, Archival pigment print, 30 x 28 inches, Edition of 5
Mike in a Hula Hoop, 2010, Archival pigment print, 2011, 30 x 28 inches, Edition of 5
Nate, Archival pigment print, 2011, 30 x 28 inches, Edition of 5
Name Our Children, 2011, Archival pigment print, 2011, 30 x 28 inches, Edition of 5