Jana Euler Whitney 2013

Identification
Title
Whitney
Production Date
2013
Object Number
2024.024a-b
Credit Line
Collection Pérez Art Museum Miami, museum purchase with funds provided by PAMM’s Collectors Council, Craig Robins, and Director’s Discretionary Fund
Copyright
© Jana Euler
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Physical Qualities
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
75 x 118 x 1 inches
Visual Description
In the background of Whitney, a hazy yellow flag signals “caution,” and the two iconic faces—of the museum building and the celebrity—are superimposed on what Euler calls “two variations on the idea of a human snail.” At left, a coiling human form bends backward in an extreme yoga pose, contorting to emulate and embody the structure of the Museum. Mimicking a spiraling snail shell, the figure rests—as does the Museum—atop a pedestal-like building, upending the usual molluscan morphology of body and shelter. The image on the right flips the stack: a nondescript spiral-shaped building encases Houston’s face, while pinned beneath it, a human form arches in a catlike stretch (yoga again).
Jana Euler
Jana Euler — b. 1982, Friedberg, Germany; lives in Frankfurt and Brussels
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