Foto Follies How Photography Lost Its Virginity on the Way to the Bank

Duane Michals's Foto Follies takes a satirical and humorous look at contemporary photography, art criticism and the state of today's art market. Whether parodying Wolfgang Tillmans or Thomas Ruff, Andres Serrano, Sherrie Levine, or Cindy Sherman, Michals uses his ferocious wit, keen intelligence and great pictorial skill to create pictures that are both humorous and penetrating, while taking aim at the pretensions that are often perceived as deliberately obscuring contemporary art. Michals provides us with a grand parody that exemplifies his mastery of the visual world and the written word. Duane Michals, born in 1932 made significant, creative strides in the field of photography. In the 1960s, an era heavily influenced by photojournalism and its aesthetic, Michals manipulated the medium to communicate narratives using a distinctive pictorial technique. In 1970 the Museum of Modern Art, New York, hosted Michals's first solo exhibition. Since then his work has been widely exhibited and it has received numerous awards. Duane Michals lives and works in New York City.