I Control the Sun #16
Artist
Lilly McElroy
(American, born 1980)
Date2015
MediumInkjet print
DimensionsImage: 17 1/8 × 17 3/16 inches (43.5 × 43.66 cm)
Sheet: 18 7/16 × 18 7/16 inches (46.83 × 46.83 cm)
Sheet: 18 7/16 × 18 7/16 inches (46.83 × 46.83 cm)
Credit LineGift of the Hall Family Foundation
Object number2020.5.3
SignedSigned on sheet verso, lower left, in pencil: "Lilly McElroy"
InscribedOn sheet verso, lower left, in pencil: "I control the sun #16, 2015 1/15"
Markingsnone
Edition/State/Proofed. 1/15
On View
Not on viewCollections
DescriptionImage of a body of water leading to a gently sloping tree line. The sun shines through the dense clouds central right and a hand reaches out from the right edge of the frame to encircle the sun with its fingers.Gallery LabelIn 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.
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.
Given by the Hall Family Foundation to The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, MO, 2020.
Copyright© Lilly McElroy
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