Luis Delgado Power Ties

Power Ties 2006
Poem by Shelley “Ozymandias”
25 Numbered editioned artist books 8.5” x 11”
Two accordion prints 8” x 75”, K3 pigment inks on alfa cellulose paper, two part aluminum box, four ply museum board, mirror & archival paper.

“Power Ties.” Photographer Luis Delgado cleverly investigates the physiognomy of leadership in this larger-than-life installation. Like clones of Mount Rushmore, statues of past presidents, captured in giant photographs, gaze impassively from opposite sides of the gallery. Each figure is composed of two images, a face and a bust, and the two halves are mismatched, exquisite-corpse style, so that no portrait appears in its original entirety. Instead, each image is a combination, not only of two personalities, but of two time periods and styles of dress.

So a face that looks like Gerald Ford (but could be William McKinley? I admit, I don’t know all my presidents by sight) appears atop a cravat more befitting John Adams. These small dissonances bring out similarities among the faces — Delgado has wisely omitted the most recognizable mugs like Lincoln and Washington — resulting in an installation that overwhelms and surprises us with sameness. All the craggy, presidential visages start to look alike. The overall effect is a bit like a fun-house hall of mirrors, in which every image is grotesquely distorted, yet familiar. As if in recognition of this effect, Delgado has placed a mirror in an elaborate gilt frame dead center between the rows of presidents so you can add yourself to the pantheon. Perhaps appearing “presidential” is more about the frame than the man.

Please contact the gallery regarding purchasing this book.