Kimberly

Artist Alex Prager American, born 1979

Date2008

MediumChromogenic print

Dimensionsheight and width: 24 x 32 in. (61 x 81.3 cm)
frame: 25 3/4 x 33 1/4 in. (65.4 x 84.5 cm)

ClassificationsPhotography

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Friends of Photography

Object number2010.8

On View

Not on view

Label TextA West Coat native, Prager seems to have Hollywood in her genes. Her highly staged color prints depict glamorous young women in scenes inspired by Alfred Hitchcock films.

Kimberly is part of a larger series, The Big Valley, which features female characters in 1960s-inspired costumes, each posing and responding to story lines that seem to lurk just outside the frame. In this scene, Kimberly stands on an airport tarmac, photographed from above. Is she seen from one of the planes, taking off? Is she being left behind, or is she trying to get the attention of a pilot or passenger? The image promotes numerous questions within the viewer, but Prager deliberately leaves things open-ended, inspiring each viewer to determine the outcome.
[L. Dougherty, 2024]ProvenanceCreated Los Angeles, 2008; collection of the artist; [Yancey Richardson Gallery, New York]; sold to NCMA, 2010.

Published References"Ghost World," ArtTravel no. 31 (2010), illustrated (color) 78.

Elisabetta Piatti, "Alex Prager," Zoom no. 97 (March/April 2010), illustrated (color) 53.

Clayton Maxwell, "Alex Prager: The Big Valley at Michael Hoppen Gallery, London," Eyemazing (May 2008), illustrated (color), 100.
Exhibition HistoryLondon, England, Michael Hoppen Contemporary Gallery, "Alex Prager: The Big Valley," April 25-June 16, 2008.

New York, NY, Yancey Richardson Gallery, "Alex Prager: The Big Valley," February 12-March 28, 2009.

Wilmington, NC, Cameron Art Museum, “Created by Light – Photographs from North Carolina Collections,” September 16, 2017–February 11, 2018.

Raleigh, NC, North Carolina Museum of Art, "The People's Collection, Reimagined," April 29, 2024-November 18, 2024. Object Rights Statement

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