DeCordova Collects Photographs: Recent Acquisitions
Rodger Kingston
Rodger Kingston is a chronicler of American Pop culture and the visual vernacular. His Cibachrome photographs of icons such as Marilyn Monroe, Mao, Chaplin (and even the landscape of the West) comment on the national psyche of our consumer society. His American Icon series transforms artifacts of commercialism into humorous, ironically elegant urban landscapes. Marilyn in Ladies' Shop Window depicts the screen siren used as a vehicle to sell tabloids. Other images by Kingston reveal personalities such as Mikhail Gorbachov, Kevin Costner and Jim and Tammy Baker marketing everything from T-shirts to mufflers. The weathered storefronts, dilapidated signs and posters so prevalent in his work call to mind photographers such as Aaron Siskind and Walker Evans. But despite the power of the urban documentary tradition and the evanescence of his subject matter, Kingston’s work is fresh and unique. He captures images spontaneously, without forethought, with a camera he keeps in his pocket at all times. Unusual angles, lighting and reflections add to the visual interest of his work. In Gene and Me the reflection of the photographer himself appears. The pulsating color of Kingston’s images invite viewers to forget for a moment the historical significance of the subject matter and concentrate instead on shape, line, and the sharp-edged juxtaposition of saturated hues.
