Portrait, 1982

Louise Lawler’s Portrait is reminiscent of the artist’s iconic audio piece Birdcalls. In this work, the artist transformed the surnames of predominant male artists into various bird sounds suggesting a sense of feminist hostility towards many of her male contemporaries – or subjects. The stringent pose of the parrot mimics the stoicism in Louise Lawler’s audio piece which was originally intended to be the record cover for the work. Another edition of this early photograph from the artist’s first ever solo exhibition with Metro Pictures is also placed in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art.