| Marlene McCarty |
(Lexington, Kentucky, 1957- )
Lives and works in New York and Europe
This work is from a series
of large scale portraits of adolescent and young women who kill other
women, often their own families, though specifically, she
focuses on those that have killed their own mothers. The drawings
are based on newspaper clippings and police files for the faces of these figures,
but the bodies are drawn from fashion-magazine ads and photographs
by Jock Sturges (known for his nude images of children and their
families). McCarty's work asks questions about the long-term psychological
effects of the media's bombardment of girls with sexualized images
of other girls. More pointedly, the work draws a connection between
eroticism and violence in the lives of the girls she portrays. At
16 years of age Patty Columbo murdered her entire family with the
help of her 36-year old boyfriend. Details of the murder, compiled
by McCarty, accompany the drawing. |
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Patty Columbo - May 7, 1976
1995-1997
Graphite, ink on paper
92 x 55 in.
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