I Control the Sun #18

Artist Lilly McElroy (American, born 1980)

Date2016

MediumInkjet print

DimensionsImage: 17 1/16 × 17 1/16 inches (43.34 × 43.34 cm)
Sheet: 18 5/16 × 18 5/16 inches (46.51 × 46.51 cm)

Credit LineGift of the Hall Family Foundation

Object number2020.5.4

SignedSigned on sheet verso, lower left, in pencil: "Lilly McElroy"

InscribedOn sheet verso, lower left, in pencil: "I control the sun #18, 2016 2/15"

MarkingsOn sheet verso, upper right, in pencil: "RWFA 8913."

Edition/State/Proofed. 2/15

On View

Not on view

Collections

Photography

Terms

DescriptionImage of a sunset/sunrise with soft narrow layers of pink, orange, and yelllow dividing a blue sky. A hand reaches out from the right edge of the frame to encircle the sun with its fingers.Gallery Label

Gallery Label

In her series I Control the Sun, Lilly McElroy creates the illusion that she can contain the luminous celestial body located approximately 93,000,0000 miles from the earth in the palm of her hand. McElroy replicates this gesture in various geographic locations. Her intentions are both playful and serious. She pokes fun at our propensity for photographing dramatic sunsets, no matter how clichéd the subject, while also suggesting that our efforts to control forces far greater than ourselves is in vain.

Provenance

Purchased from the artist by the Hall Family Foundation, Kansas City, MO, 2020;
Given by the Hall Family Foundation to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2020

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