Good condition.
Signed and numbered on the label on the verso.
The frame has scratches with paint peeling on the upper left and upper right corners, as well as one in the center of the right side.

Marilyn Minter (1948-) is an American visual artist based in New York renowned for creating photographs that centre eroticism and heightened sexuality. As a young artist, Minter’s incorporation of sexuality caused controversy. For Minter, exploring the erotic, particularly women’s pleasure and desire, challenged the expectations of artwork that women artists were expected to create. Minter views these early photographs as championing women’s sexuality rather than ignoring or hiding it away as other artists were doing. During the 2000s, Minter’s work incorporated high glamour into erotic photography. Minter shoots directly onto film and uses no digital manipulation to alter the highly stylized imagery. This phenomenal technical ability mirrors the careful construction of the images that Minter captures. Minter never crops a photograph after capturing it, demonstrating the incredible attention to detail that Minter employs to create eye-catching imagery.

Bad Habit is part of an extended on-going photographic series titled “Up Close”, which is created in tandem with a companion painting series titled “Close Up”. Beginning in 2000, these series explore the minute details of sexual fascination, from painted toes, nipples spilling out of fabric, luxuriously painted eye lids, and lips. Minter has been vocal in critiquing the double standards of sexuality that are applied in society to men and women. The title of this piece, Bad Habit, is likely a tongue-in-cheek reference to this issue where women’s sexuality is considered secondary to men’s. Ultimately, pleasure is an act of defiance, and it is in these moments of personal sexual fulfilment that women can subvert patriarchal authority.

Regen Projects, Los Angeles

“Marilyn Minter”, May 19 - June 23, 2018, Regen Projects, Los Angeles