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Joan, is there one law?

A work made of silkscreen ink on steel.

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  • A work made of silkscreen ink on steel.

Date:

1994

Artist:

Cady Noland
American, born 1956

About this artwork

Cady Noland explores how rituals of pain, violence, and public humiliation are embedded in the American consciousness. She invokes the obsession with celebrity culture and the private lives of public figures, which is calamitously narrated in the popular press. Joan, is there one law? cites the acrimonious 1987 divorce trial of British actress Joan Collins and her fourth husband, Swedish former pop singer Peter Holm, which was headline news and tabloid fodder. The reproduced image of Holm protesting his eviction from Collins’s Beverly Hills home plays with the text of the picketing signs, highlighting how he publicized his “homelessness” during the settlement phase of the trial.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Contemporary Art

Artist

Cady Noland

Title

Joan, is there one law?

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.

1994

Medium

Silkscreen ink on steel

Dimensions

152.7 × 244.5 × 3 cm (60 1/8 × 96 1/4 × 1/8 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Marilyn and Larry Fields

Reference Number

2017.427

Extended information about this artwork

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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