The Stuffed Bear Photography of Gloria Alten
[Lake Oswego, Oregon]: [Gloria Alten], [ca. 1983-84].
Four linear inches of loose 4”x6” drugstore prints intended by the artist to make blank greeting cards with; some duplicates and many are near-duplicates—original photographs repetitively taken of the same scene but slightly different. [With] 100 completed greeting cards: 7.5”x5.5”folded sheets with original photograph pasted on front, most hand-titled and/or signed by the artist; with blank envelope in plastic sleeve. [With] Three Polaroid images.
Portland-area artist Gloria Alten (1923-2014) created a line of greeting cards she illustrated by photographing scenes with stuffed bears, for what appears to be her long-running project entitled “Glances.” Here, her process is somewhat visible; with the finished product presented alongside the rejected pictures one can begin to notice the difference between nearly identical shots. A slightly different lighting pattern on a scene can change the mood completely.
Many scenes were arranged by month—February is Valentine’s Day, April is tax time, and so on. Often a bear is seen wearing an “I Love Oregon” shirt and occasionally there is a Portland-area theme.
Overall, an odd collection of images in which the photographer seems to approach with certain earnestness. For example, a scene for February, 1984 includes a copy of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four. A book so over-used as shorthand for dystopia is here placed next to a smiling stuffed bear without the slightest hint of irony, as if Alten is happily enjoying the coincidence.
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Price: $500.00