American Images: Dana Lixenberg

In 2001 George Pitts wrote an essay for the book that accompanied Lixenberg’s exhibition united states, which featured a combination of portraits of celebrities and non-celebrities. In the essay he notes:

“Austere and involved, Lixenberg’s perspective toward her subjects was almost passionate, but at the same time without sentimentality. Her pictures quietly capture a community of disquiet. [...] Virtually all the celebrities portrayed by Lixenberg are rendered in a vulnerable way, and perhaps that’s why these images warrant repeated viewings. She does not show these gifted people doing breezy star turns, but instead Lixenberg extracts their ordinary (yet richly human) qualities, which permits a healthy contrast with their larger-than- life personas. [...] Lixenberg gives the impression that intellectual postering is pretentious, but her attitude conceals a deeper concern that the viewer draw their own conclusions, with as little commentary as possible about her intentions. [...] Viewed together, Lixenberg’s collection of American images creates a powerful regional portrait, rich in introspection, understated in its panoramic range, and charged with tenderness toward her sitters, that does not fail to register the solitude that envelops our being.”