Waiting for Famous People | Online Presentation

Spring 2020

 

Galleri Nicolai Wallner is pleased to present an Online Presentation of Jonathan Monk’s iconic series “Waiting for Famous People”. The series, which dates back from 1995 to 1997, presents an intimate view into Jonathan Monk’s practice, as well as contextualising a year within the cultural zeitgeist.

In each photograph, Monk stands waiting in an airport with a handmade sign at the arrival gate. Each spells the name of a famous person. Some are fictitious, some are no longer alive, yet each holds a unique claim to fame. The figures are a combination of famous artists and people from the art world such as John Baldessari, Leo Castelli and Peggy Guggeinheim, politicians and social figures like the Dalai Lama, Salman Rushdie and Fidel Castro, celebrities, movie characters and musicians including Blur, the Pet Shop Boys, Thelma and Louise, Madonna, Sharon Stone and WHAM, as well as more personal figures such as “Mom”.

 

 

Jonathan Monk
Waiting for Famous People (John Baldessari) (1997)
Colour photograph
20 x 30 cm
Edition of 5 (+1 AP)

To Inquire

 

 

Jonathan Monk
Waiting for Famous People (Curt Cobain) (1995)
Colour photograph
20 x 30 cm
Edition of 5 (+1 AP)

To Inquire

 

 

 

Jonathan Monk
Waiting for Famous People (Dalai Lama) (1995)
Colour photograph
20 x 30 cm
Edition of 5 (+1 AP)

To Inquire

 

 

Jonathan Monk
Waiting for Famous People (Mona Lisa) (1997)
Colour photograph
20 x 30 cm
Edition of 5 (+1 AP)

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The series has an inherent performative quality that comes through in the photographs. From the outside, we as the viewer are aware that Monk will be waiting indefinitely, that the person in question will not be coming through the gate at any moment. This however stands in stark contrast to the people who wait alongside him who are, in actuality, waiting for someone to arrive. The sense of emotion and anticipation from those waiting creates a palpable feeling of tension that runs through each photograph.

Twenty-five years on, this series provides a unique impression of the people and celebrities who had an impact on the political, social and cultural realities of the time. Both playful and thought provoking, we are left with the job of looking back through those figures and thinking about who has stood the test of time.

 

 

Jonathan Monk
Waiting for Famous People (Godot) (1997)
Colour photograph
20 x 30 cm
Edition of 5 (+1 AP)

To Inquire

 

 

Jonathan Monk
Waiting for Famous People (James Bond) (1995)
Colour photograph
20 x 30 cm
Edition of 5 (+1 AP)

To Inquire

 

 

Jonathan Monk
Waiting for Famous People (Elizabeth Taylor) (1995)
Colour photograph
20 x 30 cm
Edition of 5 (+1 AP)

To Inquire

 

 

Jonathan Monk
Waiting for Famous People (Jackson Pollock) (1995)
Colour photograph
20 x 30 cm
Edition of 5 (+1 AP)

To Inquire

 

 

Jonathan Monk
Waiting for Famous People (Anyone) (1997)
Colour photograph
20 x 30 cm
Edition of 5 (+1 AP)

To Inquire

 

 

Jonathan Monk
Waiting for Famous People (Mickey Mouse) (1997)
Colour photograph
20 x 30 cm
Edition of 5 (+1 AP)

To Inquire

 

 

Jonathan Monk
Waiting for Famous People (Beastie Boys) (1995)
Colour photograph
20 x 30 cm
Edition of 5 (+1 AP)

To Inquire

 

 

 

Jonathan Monk
Waiting for Famous People (Jonathan Monk) (1997)
Colour photograph
50 x 70 cm
Edition of 5 (+1 AP)

To Inquire

 

 

Jonathan Monk
Waiting for Famous People (Sigmund Freud) (1997)
Colour photograph
20 x 30 cm
Edition of 5 (+1 AP)

To Inquire

 

 

Jonathan Monk
Waiting for Famous People (Muhammed Ali) (1997)
Colour photograph
20 x 30 cm
Edition of 5 (+1 AP)

To Inquire

 

 

Jonathan Monk
Waiting for Famous People (Liza Minelli) (1997)
Colour photograph
20 x 30 cm
Edition of 5 (+1 AP)

To Inquire

 

 

 

Jonathan Monk
Waiting for Famous People (Madonna) (1995)
Colour photograph
20 x 30 cm
Edition of 5 (+1 AP)

To Inquire

 

 

Jonathan Monk
Waiting for Famous People (The Wizard of Oz) (1997)
Colour photograph
20 x 30 cm
Edition of 5 (+1 AP)

To Inquire

 

 

Jonathan Monk
Waiting for Famous People (Mom) (1997)
Colour photograph
20 x 30 cm
Edition of 5 (+1 AP)

To Inquire

 

 

Jonathan Monk
Waiting for Famous People (Pablo Picasso) (1995)
Colour photograph
20 x 30 cm
Edition of 5 (+1 AP)

To Inquire

 

 

 

Jonathan Monk
Waiting for Famous People (Peggy Guggenheim) (1997)
Colour photograph
20 x 30 cm
Edition of 5 (+1 AP)

To Inquire

 

 

Jonathan Monk
Waiting for Famous People (Santa Claus) (1997)
Colour photograph
20 x 30 cm
Edition of 5 (+1 AP)

To Inquire

 

 

Jonathan Monk
Waiting for Famous People (René Magritte) (1997)
Colour photograph
20 x 30 cm
Edition of 5 (+1 AP)

To Inquire

 

 

Jonathan Monk
Waiting for Famous People (River Phoenix) (1997)
Colour photograph
20 x 30 cm
Edition of 5 (+1 AP)

To Inquire

 

 

Jonathan Monk
Waiting for Famous People (Salvador Dali) (1995)
Colour photograph
20 x 30 cm
Edition of 5 (+1 AP)

To Inquire

 

 

Jonathan Monk
Waiting for Famous People (Spice Girls) (1997)
Colour photograph
20 x 30 cm
Edition of 5 (+1 AP)

To Inquire

 

 

Jonathan Monk
Waiting for Famous People (Sex Pistols) (1995)
Colour photograph
20 x 30 cm
Edition of 5 (+1 AP)

To Inquire

 

 

Jonathan Monk
Waiting for Famous People (Thelma and Louise) (1997)
Colour photograph
20 x 30 cm
Edition of 5 (+1 AP)

To Inquire

 

carrie emberlyn