Louise Lawler  (American, 1947) 

Louise Lawler (American, b.1947) is a photographer and Conceptual artist best known for her critical framing of art institutions. She earned a BFA at Cornell University in 1969, and began working in the tradition of a previous generation of artists associated with Institutional Critique, including Marcel Broodthaers (Belgian, 1924–1976), Daniel Buren (French, b.1938), Hans Haacke (American/German, b.1936), and Michael Asher (American, b.1943). By calling attention to the various venues that display art—such as museums, auction houses, and private collections—Lawler questions the role of commercial forces in determining the work’s original value. Her photograph Pollock and Tureen (1984) shows the home of a private collector, juxtaposing a Chinese tureen with a painting by Jackson Pollock (American, 1912–1956). On a much larger stage, Lawler’s photographs Not the way you remembered (Venice)—her contribution to the exhibition Sequence One: Painting and Sculpture from the François Pinault Collection (2006-2007)—document the exhibition’s installation process. The title suggests the involvement of François Pinault, collector and owner of Christie’s auction house, as well as the “you” of the audience. Lawler’s work can be found in major collections around the world, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, and Tate Britain in London. Her work has been exhibited at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York in its 1991, 2002, and 2008 biennials, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington D.C., the Museum für Gegenwartskunst in Basel, and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam.