Voyeurs (Sugar Ray Robinson vs. Randy Turpin, 1951) from the series Fight
Artist
Alison Van Pelt
(Born in Los Angeles, CA, 1963)
Date2001
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions48 x 60 x 1 1/2 inches (121.9 x 152.4 x 3.8 cm)
ClassificationsPainting
Credit LineGift of Paul A. Rusconi
Object number2001.39.1
Collections
- ART OF THE UNITED STATES
- MODERN & CONTEMPORARY
Label TextIn Voyeurs, Alison Van Pelt appropriates a still image from a 1951 boxing match between Sugar Ray Robinson and Randy Turpin. Rather than strictly copy the scene, however, Van Pelt ran a dry brush through the wet paint to distort the visual information. The blurred image creates the effect of a wavering, distant memory or partly formed thought. Frozen in time, the fighters’ bodies could be seen as embracing or dancing, rather than engaging in aggressive behavior. The title, Voyeurs, draws attention to the row of faces in the background witnessing the boxing match, as well as to the painting’s viewers who become active onlookers. Van Pelt’s image questions the accuracy of recollection, the ambiguity of the past, and one’s individual role in reconstructing history.