Louise Lawler
Hand to hand (swiped) (adjusted to fit) and two glasses 
5 August - 10 October 2023

In 2011, Louise Lawler began her “adjusted to fit” series. In the series Lawler further prods the relationship between art and it’s context by changing the aspect ratio of her images to match that of the wall they are installed on. When displayed as vinyl works these works can be presented at any scale, but must be centered, and maintain the ratio of the wall. When these works circulate in print or online they also ‘adjust’ to those settings as well, responding to each new context.  

At Sydney Sydney her work Hand to hand (swiped) (adjusted to fit) has been scaled to match the proportions of the gallery walls. The initial image, already blurred by Lawler’s ’swiping’ of the camera as she captured the detail of a Jasper John’s body print, is now elongated horizontally, giving both her camera equipment and the gallery setting a say in the final presentation. 

Also on display are drinking glasses with the phrase “RECOGNITION MAYBE, MAY NOT BE USEFUL” printed on them, as well as postcards with the Hand to hand (swiped) image on them. Lawler has long engaged with printed matter and ephemera that allow her images and texts to easily circulate outside of the gallery setting. The selection highlights Lawler’s creation of interventions into various conventions, making those gestures perhaps even more important than the images themselves, as once they have been put on display they may even be unrecognizable. 

Courtesy the artist and Sprüth Magers