Fall\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Waning Back to School Moon<\/p>\n
Rituals and Style<\/strong><\/p>\n In a clever twist on two Alex Prager images, the first an upper class family in their opulent home, posed as if to reveal joints in a (dysfunctional?) family system and the second a wood-paneled room stuffed with paintings and sculpture and orchids which has an elderly man sitting and a younger man holding a dog standing with his hand on the others shoulder, Alec Soth has shot an understated, by comparison to the other two hanging next to it, interior.\u00a0 Seated in the position of prominence however is not a prim, confident daughter or a posed son or lover, but Moujik IV, a French bulldog owned by Yves Saint Laurent.\u00a0 Moujik IV, which means Russian peasant, is the last of four French bulldogs owned by the fashion designer and heir to a considerable fortune of his own.\u00a0 His bodyguard stands off to the side.\u00a0 Laurent, if told a country would not accept Moujik, refused to go.<\/p>\n All three of these images, which occupy a niche near the end of the exhibit, let us peak behind the gates or doorman guarded lobbies of wealthy homes.\u00a0\u00a0 We see their inhabitants, both canine and human, in their environments, but posed as part of a documentation ritual of wealth’s domestic codes.<\/p>\n Cindy Sherman dolled up and posed before an Upper Eastside apartment building (see below) stands in the Rituals and Style section along yet another Abe Morrel piece, 34 million Swiss Francs, a portrait of colorful bundles of Swiss paper currency.<\/p>\n Martin Parr’s three photographs complete the exhibition.\u00a0 All of his evoke in-crowd ritual events available only to those with cash or connections, or both.\u00a0 The first is a cocktail party in Cambridge, England.\u00a0 It shows only feet, shoes, the bottom of skirts and a martini glass all posed on a white rug.\u00a0 The second shows an Arab man in traditional clothing looking at a pink stroller (very expensive according to David Little) tended by a woman in a pink hijab.\u00a0 Next to the Arab man stands a\u00a0rubinesque Arab woman in high heels and a tight fitting body suit.\u00a0 This is the lobby at a polo match.\u00a0 The final picture, which reminded me immediately of Rene Magritte, has five men in bowlers watching or preparing to watch the\u00a0 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in Paris.<\/span><\/p>\n The concluding portion of this review will look at the overall implications of Embarrassment of Riches.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Fall\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Waning Back to School Moon Rituals and Style In a clever twist on two Alex Prager images, the first an upper class family in their opulent home, posed as if to reveal joints in a (dysfunctional?) family system and the second a wood-paneled room stuffed with paintings and sculpture and orchids which has an … Continue reading Global Wealth in our Gilded Age: Rituals and Style<\/span>