Rutger's Housing Project, 75 Pike Street, New York, from the series "On This Site: Landscape in Memoriam"

About this artwork

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Photography and Media

Artist

Joel Sternfeld

Title

Rutger's Housing Project, 75 Pike Street, New York, from the series "On This Site: Landscape in Memoriam"

Place

United States (Artist's nationality:)

Date  Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Made 1996

Medium

Chromogenic print

Edition

1 of 7

Inscriptions

Unmarked recto; inscribed verso, on mount, along bottom edge, in black ink: JS.232.0 1/7 Rutger's Housing Project, 75 Pike Street, New York, April 1996 N-April 1996 / P-September 1996 Joel Sternfeld The day after Elisa Izquierdo was born, New York’s Child Welfare Agency took her from her crack-addicted mother, Awilda Lopez, and placed her in the custody of her devoted father, Gustavo Izquierdo. Her father died of cancer when Elisa was four years old, and Awilda Lopez, seemingly recovered from drug addiction, gained full custody. Serious signs of abuse were reported at least eight times to the Child Welfare Agency by teachers and social workers after her mother gained custody. On November 22, 1995, Elisa, then six years old, was beaten to death by her mother. At her funeral the Reverend Gianni Agosinelli told mourners that “Elisa was not killed only by the hand of a sick individual but by the impotence and silence of many, by the neglect of child welfare institutions, and by the moral mediocrity that has intoxicated our neighborhoods.” From the series, On This Site: Landscape in Memoriam

Dimensions

Image/paper: 47.5 × 59.7 cm (18 3/4 × 23 9/16 in.); Mount: 63.5 × 76.3 cm (25 × 30 1/16 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Jeanne and Richard S. Press

Reference Number

1997.777.5

Extended information about this artwork

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