id: 158987 accession number: 1995.204.2 share license status: Copyrighted url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1995.204.2 updated: 2024-03-26 02:00:27.977000 "In a Dream...": The Annointed 1898, 1991. David McDermott (American, b. 1952), and Peter McGough (American, b. 1958). Palladium print; image: 34.8 x 26.6 cm (13 11/16 x 10 1/2 in.); paper: 42.2 x 30.3 cm (16 5/8 x 11 15/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Anonymous Donor and Photographers + Friends United Against AIDS 1995.204.2 title: The Annointed 1898 title in original language: series: "In a Dream..." series in original language: creation date: 1991 creation date earliest: 1991 creation date latest: 1991 current location: creditline: Anonymous Donor and Photographers + Friends United Against AIDS copyright: --- culture: America, 20th century technique: palladium print department: Photography collection: PH - American 1951-Present type: Portfolio find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * David McDermott (American, b. 1952) - artist McDermott and McGough David McDermott American, 1952-; and Peter McGough American, 1958- In their own words, David McDermott (born in Hollywood, California) and Peter McGough (born in Syracuse, New York) "would like to stop time . . . and make a world where all time exists simultaneously." In their cyanotype and palladium photographs, printed using antiquated processes, the duo achieve their aim by self-consciously selecting still-life subjects that harken back to 19th-century sources in order to comment on the future. Props such as antique sculptures, memento mori, and Victorianesque furniture are used to suggest the deterioration of the contemporary Western world by recreating the look of pre-modern times. Backdated to the time period they are meant to recall, the photographs are less re-creations of the past than ironic post-modern statements on the cyclical history of culture as evidenced by its material and visual remains. Both attended Syracuse University, although at different times (McDermott from 1970-74; McGough in 1976), and met in the early 1980s in New York City. Like the older collaborative team of British conceptual artists Gilbert and George, McDermott and McGough eradicate distinctions between their art and their lives. Furnishing their New York apartment in Victorian decor, eschewing electricity and telephones in favor of gas lamps, and wandering through SoHo sporting top hats and canes, the idiosyncratic duo has garnered both accolades and ridicule. As painters and photographers, McDermott and McGough have met with considerable success. Since 1986 they have had more than 11 solo exhibitions and have been included in two Whitney Biennials (1987, 1991). A.W. * Peter McGough (American, b. 1958) - artist McDermott and McGough David McDermott American, 1952-; and Peter McGough American, 1958- In their own words, David McDermott (born in Hollywood, California) and Peter McGough (born in Syracuse, New York) "would like to stop time . . . and make a world where all time exists simultaneously." In their cyanotype and palladium photographs, printed using antiquated processes, the duo achieve their aim by self-consciously selecting still-life subjects that harken back to 19th-century sources in order to comment on the future. Props such as antique sculptures, memento mori, and Victorianesque furniture are used to suggest the deterioration of the contemporary Western world by recreating the look of pre-modern times. Backdated to the time period they are meant to recall, the photographs are less re-creations of the past than ironic post-modern statements on the cyclical history of culture as evidenced by its material and visual remains. Both attended Syracuse University, although at different times (McDermott from 1970-74; McGough in 1976), and met in the early 1980s in New York City. Like the older collaborative team of British conceptual artists Gilbert and George, McDermott and McGough eradicate distinctions between their art and their lives. Furnishing their New York apartment in Victorian decor, eschewing electricity and telephones in favor of gas lamps, and wandering through SoHo sporting top hats and canes, the idiosyncratic duo has garnered both accolades and ridicule. As painters and photographers, McDermott and McGough have met with considerable success. Since 1986 they have had more than 11 solo exhibitions and have been included in two Whitney Biennials (1987, 1991). A.W. * Portfolio II published by Photographers + Friends United Against AIDS - publisher --- measurements: Image: 34.8 x 26.6 cm (13 11/16 x 10 1/2 in.); Paper: 42.2 x 30.3 cm (16 5/8 x 11 15/16 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: inscriptions: inscription: Written in pencil on recto: "5-3-24"; on label attached to mat: "Messers McDermott & McGough [in black ink] / Messers McDermott and McGough / The Temple of Photographic Art / title [printed] The Annointed [in ink] / the [printed] Sixth [in ink] instance of [printed] February [in ink] 18 [printed] 98 [ink] / No. [printed] eleven [in ink] in an Edition of [printed] Twenty-Five [ink] / No. 135 Broadway, Williamsburg / City of Brooklyn [printed]" translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS --- PROVENANCE Anonymous Donor date: footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH date: December 4, 1995 footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: digital description: wall description: --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS Cleveland Museum of Art, Tom E Hinson. Catalogue of Photography. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1996. page number: Reproduced: P. 233 url: --- IMAGES