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Washington University in St. Louis
Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts

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Christian Jankowski

Poster Sale

2005

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Christian Jankowski uses photography and video as a foundation from which to generate participatory experiences that actively criticize our media-saturated society. Often this takes the form of an intervention in an existing aspect of the art world, such as the dealer/artist relationship, the exhibition, the art market, or the means of producing an artwork. In "Poster Sale," a series of forty photographs, Jankowski addresses questions of public and communal identity, in particular the ways in which images of popular culture contribute to the construction of individuality. Invited to Washington University in St. Louis for an artist’s lecture and an exhibition in 2002, Jankowski was inspired to photograph students posing with posters they had just purchased at the University’s annual poster sale. Jankowski approached students, discussed with them their poster selection, and invited them to participate in his artwork. These photographs allow viewers a glimpse into the students’ personal interests through their selected images—of consumer goods, film posters, pop and movie stars, pinup girls, works of art, famous buildings. In the photographs the students become part of the same visual fabric as the pictures they are holding, but many of the students seem aware of this duality as they pose, some confidently, others shyly, in a rite of passage for the college student, the selection of imagery to decorate their dorm rooms. [Exhibition brochure text, 2010]

  • Artist Christian Jankowski (German, b. 1968)
  • Title Poster Sale
  • Date 2005
  • Medium Color photograph
  • Edition description 2/5
  • Dimensions unframed | 14 x 11 in.
  • Part of Poster Sale
  • Credit line University purchase, Parsons Fund and Art Acquisition Fund, 2006
  • Object number WU 2006.0002 hh

Ambivalent Pleasures: Advertiser Content in American Art
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in St. Louis, 08/29/2022 - 01/02/2023

Focus on Photography: Recent Acquisitions
Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum, Washington University in St. Louis, 05/07/2010 - 07/26/2010

10/11/2006
Maccarone, Inc., New York

Printed on poster: BITTER / CAMPARI

This artwork record may be incomplete or need refinement. Our staff actively researches the collection and revises records when new information is available. If you have questions or comments about this record, please contact us.

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Exhibitions

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August 29, 2022–January 02, 2023

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