Little Women by Garry Gross
  • artists' book
  • pictorial wrappers
  • offset-printed
  • staple bound
  • color
  • 16 x 11.5 cm.
  • [12] pp.
  • edition size unknown

Little Women by Garry Gross

Garry Gross

Little Women by Garry Gross

description

Small artist's book culminating in two infamous nude photographs of Brooke Shields, then the age of 10. One of these images became the basis of Richard Prince's work Spiritual America (1983).

"I went back to my apartment on E.12th St. and hurriedly opened the envelope. The small publication was in fact called… Little Women. And in it, contained several images of young girls made up to look older. (All of the girls were around nine, ten and dressed and styled to look around eighteen). Some of them looked like 'tarts.' I didn't really have much of a reaction paging through the book. I didn't understand why Gross would think that these kinds of images would help promote his business. (Then again I didn't know what business Gross was promoting). I turned the pages and there it was on the second to the last page. There was Brooke standing in a tub completely naked with her arms outstretched like she was Jesus on the cross… her boy body oiled and shiny, with just the tiniest bit of make-up on her cheeks and rouge on her lips. The image hit me. It was 'alive.' Where did it come from? Who was its maker? It wasn't born. It was fully formed. There was no history to the image, no future. Independent and on its own… free from any and all authorship. It was as if the 'look' on Brooke's face knew secrets I would never begin to understand. She knew. What did she know? It didn't matter. It was enough to know that this photograph knew everything." -- Richard Prince, from transcription of lecture delivered at ICP, New York, April 2, 2014, http://www.americansuburbx.com/2014/04/richard-prince-lecture-icp-2014.html.

references

"Spiritual America : The Catalog 1983 - 1984" by Sandra Schulman, Walter Robinson, Richard Prince, Kim Fine. : Slink Productions, 2015.
New York, NY: Garry Gross,
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$5,000.00
Condition:  Fine. Covers and contents clean and unmarked. This copy SIGNED in gold ink by Garry Gross on back cover. (c) GARRY GROSS 1981 printed in white ink via rubber stamp on back cover.
[Object # 22698]
$2,500.00
Condition:  Very Good / Fine. Light wear along spine and rusted staples. Interior Fine, clean and unmarked.
[Object # 28812]