Artist Spotlight: Patty Carroll

Patty Carroll, Picknicky, 2016, Archival pigment print, 22 x 22," Edition of 20, $1500

In light of a price increase occurring on November 1, 2021, we've decided to turn the spotlight to some of our favorite images by Photographer's Showcase artist, Patty Carroll! Take a look below for new pricing information, and be in touch with any questions or purchase inquiries.

Blue by Joni Mitchell is one of my favorite albums. There is one line in the song “Case of You” that I always thought was funny when I was growing up that I recently realized perfectly encapsulates the essence of Patty Carroll’s series Anonymous Women: Domestic Demise.

The line goes: “I am a lonely painter, I live in a box of paints.”

To be isolated by that which you love (or are told that you’re supposed to love) is something understood deeply by Patty Carroll.

The characters that populate her ongoing series, Anonymous Women, are faceless and dripping in opulent trimmings that fall in line with their often monochromatic (or close to it) surroundings, Carroll’s images are meticulously constructed. She has thought deeply about the objects that she surrounds her subjects with, though I can only imagine that their immobility is helpful to this process as well.

The use of female-bodied mannequins as subjects in the work allows for Carroll to liberate herself from the limitations of working with a subject that has agency. This feels like a mimicry of the singular male gaze that classical art history is often associated with, but this is also a tactic that allows for an easily recognizable point of entry into her ideologically loaded images.

Below is one of my personal favorite images from Domestic Demise that also exemplifies the stance that Patty Carroll takes up as a contemporary artist and feminist, “Woman on a Pedestal" (2018):

Patty Carroll, Woman on a Pedestal, 2018, Archival pigment print, 22 x 22," Edition of 20, $1500

I love this image both formally and conceptually. I love the way that the palette of beiges and off-whites is incredibly gentle, but is also disrupted by the visibly uncomfortable pose of the primary subject. What does it mean to have a “woman” subject serve as the focal point of the image, but also to strip her of any and all identity outside of the whiteness that consumes her and the jewels that drip from her left hand? Patty Carroll speaks openly in her statement that Domestic Demise is ultimately comprised of continued retellings of the tragic story of the housebound wife who is entirely consumed by her possessions to the point of destruction, and it is worth noting that, even while our primary subject is being eaten alive by what protects her, her legs are still firmly crossed. How ladylike.

Patty Carroll’s images are a visual wonderland of humor, intellect and aesthetics, and "Woman on a Pedestal" is far from the only example. Check out more images from Anonymous Women: Domestic Demise below, and keep in mind that Patty Carroll’s prints are increasing in price on November 1, 2021!