Paul Pfeiffer: Prologue to the Story of the Birth of Freedom

Paul Pfeiffer: Prologue to the Story of the Birth of Freedom

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This richly illustrated catalogue accompanies the first US retrospective of Paul Pfeiffer's acclaimed multi-disciplinary practice at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA. Presenting era-defining photo and video works alongside his latest experiments in sculpture and installation, this volume reflects Pfeiffer's use of a wealth of recent technologies to dissect the role that mass media plays in shaping consciousness. Throughout his work, Pfeiffer interrogates how images might shape the spectators who consume them. In his own words: ' The question always comes up: who's using who? Is the image making us, or do we make images?' His works mediate on faith, desire, and the ways both are enmeshed in a contemporary culture transfixed by celebrity. This authoritative volume spans twenty-five years of practice and includes essays by Tom Gunning and Marian Pastor Roces as well as conversations with the artist and Chanon Kenji Praepipatmongkol and with the artist, Julie Mehretu, and Lawrence Chua.

Designed by Counterspace, Michael Worthington

Learn more about the exhibition, Paul Pfeiffer: Prologue to the Story of the Birth of Freedom. May 02, 2025 - Aug 31, 2025.

Materials: Hardcover

Size: 240 pages. 9.5" x 12.6"

Item 9781915743336

About the Artist

Paul Pfeiffer

Paul Pfeiffer (b. 1966, Honolulu, HI; lives in New York, NY), whose practice interrogates ideas of spectacle and mass culture. By repurposing the tools and systems of media production—including editing, staging, and outsourcing—Pfeiffer recontextualizes global celebrities such as pop stars, film actors, and athletes to reveal relationships between audiences and icons. As the artist puts it, “who’s using who? Is the image making us, or do we make images?”

Whether through televised broadcasts of sporting events, editorial photographs of cultural icons, or the ecstasy of a soccer stadium, Pfeiffer interrogates the consumption of images and culture. For Pfeiffer, the basketball court, the boxing ring, and the stadium not only serve as platforms for grand spectacles but as sites where the body politic—of a nation, of a community, of society—is imagined, defined, and contested.

Learn more about Paul Pfeiffer: Prologue to the Story of the Birth of Freedom May 03, 2025 - Aug 31, 2025 here.

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