Monkey Portraits (and a few apes)
Jill Greenberg

December 4, 2008 to January 25, 2009

Biography

Over the last fifteen years, Jill Greenberg has made memorable images of many of the world’s most recognizable celebrities, such as David Bowie, Liza Minelli, Drew Barrymore, Clint Eastwood, Tom Cruise, and many more, in addition to creating a recognizable filter of vision itself. An early adopter of digital effects, Greenberg has developed a world that is more intense, more razor-sharp than the one in which we actually reside. Greenberg creates portraits that seize our attention, that create an altered universe staring back at us. Her photographs are sharp and saturated, stunning and quirky; the work is soaked with realism and imagination.

Artist Statement

In 2001, Greenberg turned her lens on celebrities of a different sort—namely monkeys and apes, many of whom have appeared in film and television roles. These brilliant portraits convey the startling range of emotions and personalities in our closest biological cousins with whom we share about 98 percent of our DNA.

Referring to Jacques Lacan’s psychoanalytic theory, artist and critic Paul Myoda writes: “[Greenberg] mischievously shows us another type of mirror stage, where we confront an ancient and distorted reflection, another startling spectacle, and try to make sense of who, or what we are seeing. By intentionally anthropomorphizing her monkeys, we can’t help but identify with their gaze, and be reminded of people we know, expressions that we have seen before. Are they judging us? Laughing at us? Showing us that a couple extra chromosomes just doesn’t make that much of a difference when all is said and done?”

She is represented by the Clampart Gallery in New York (www.clampart.com).

In addition to producing fine art work, Jill Greenberg shoots commercially for clients such as DreamWorks, Sony Pictures, Rolling Stone, Interview, Time, Wired and Entertainment Weekly. She resides in Los Angeles with her husband and two young children.