Komar & Melamid

Born 1943, and 1945, Russia
Live in New York

IN THE GALLERY

Public opinion polls and market research ceaselessly measure all aspects of society. So, in 1994, the conceptual artist collaborative Komar & Melamid wryly asked why the world of aesthetics should be any different. They went out and hired an actual market research firm to determine the public’s aesthetic preferences and taste in painting. The poll was conducted in fourteen countries and resulted in a series of paintings by the artists titled People’s Choice that attempted to translate the desires of each nation’s public onto idealized canvases.

America’s Most Wanted is the first work from that series that the artists produced. The work reflects the findings that 33% of Americans prefer the fall season, and 56% want historical figures in their paintings. Thus, in the hands of these Russian immigrants, the required historical icon becomes George Washington, depicted in a fall forest landscape reminiscent of the Hudson River School landscapes, and, in line with other poll results, standing near a beach and some deer. The project pokes gentle fun at rhetoric calling for the democratization of art, while also revealing traditional prejudices about artistic content. At the core is the immigrants’ fascination with American consumer polls and the expectations of instant gratification they raise—not foreign to the political realm either.

America’s Most Wanted 1994/2008

Photographic reproduction of oil painting with statistical charts, Photo credit: D. James Dee

Dishwasher size (24" x 35.8”)

Courtesy Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, New York