Liliana Porter, a New York-based artist of Argentinean origins, draws from
her extensive collection of souvenirs, toys, functional knickknacks and
figurines in the creation of her work. In photographs, video, and prints,
Porter represents these figures in various scenarios that, with masterful
simplicity, distill life into its basic elements, at once playful and tragic. For
this exhibition she will also create 3-D situations, using the actual
objects in live dialogue.

Porter typically places two or more objects together to create unexpec-
ted encounters. Decontextualized against white or black backgrounds,
the objects shed their standard identities and acquire a poignant
humanness. Minnie Mouse kisses Che Guevara's portrait on a plate, two
choirboy candles sing with a plastic bluebird, and a toy soldier shoots at
a fat piggy bank. These mass produced kitsch objects become characters
we empathize and identify with, actors that elicit and exude emotion in
mini dramas about life, love, longing, and loss. In her dialogue of
differences, she declassifies and subverts the visual order of things,
reconstructing contexts to deconstruct meaning.

related article:
The artist at play in a universe of toys
by Kenneth Baker
San Francisco Chronicle
June 21, 2003