Libby Black's paintings and drawings are based on fashion advertisements and magazine spreads. She is drawn to source imagery that might have an ambiguous meaning -- something beyond the intended message to sell a product or feature a trend. In many of the images, the product is absent -- what is there is just a hint at a story or a mood. Says Ms. Black, "While the fantasy may be recognizable, the choice of imagery and the way in which I render that imagery is an attempt to read the image's narrative against the grain." What makes this subject matter interesting to her is that she feels both drawn in by the fantasy and also critical of it.
In addition to painting and drawing, she also creates three-dimensional life-size versions of sometimes real, sometimes imagined luxury goods out of paper, hot glue and paint. These objects might be a Burberry skateboard, Hermes roller skates, or a stack of designer luggage. She has also created entire installations of sculptural works, such as a Louis Vuitton boutique in a storefront gallery and a Kate Spade store within a museum. With the sculptural work, She is interested in how the objects appear from a distance to be real, even if implausible, while upon closer inspection the illusion begins to fall apart.
