Angelo in Robe

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Currently not on view

Angelo in Robe

1979 (negative); 1995 (print)

David Lebe (American, born 1948)

David Lebe created this image by using a penlight to trace the features of a man and the bedroom in which he sits. Lebe describes his penlight photographs of male figures as representations of “the sexual electricity that we can feel along our skin when in proximity with someone we are attracted to.”

The radiant lines also illustrate the play of Lebe’s own hand and eye over the surface of the sitter’s body. A shirt glows in the background as if the lingering heat of its recent wearer were luminous. At left, a ghost of the photographer’s foot testifies to a shared bed. Angelo in Robe evokes intimacy while giving visual form to the photographer’s desire.

Currently not on view

Object Details

Title:

Angelo in Robe

Date:

1979 (negative); 1995 (print)

Artist:

David Lebe (American, born 1948)

Medium:

Gelatin silver print

Dimensions:

Image: 17 9/16 x 22 3/8 inches (44.6 x 56.8 cm) Sheet: 19 15/16 x 23 7/8 inches (50.6 x 60.6 cm)

Classification:

Photographs

Credit Line:

Purchased with the Julius Bloch Memorial Fund created by Benjamin D. Bernstein and the Leo Model Foundation Curatorial Discretionary Fund, 2010

Accession Number:

2010-81-1

Geography:

Photograph taken in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, North and Central America

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Currently not on view

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