In the early 2000s, Jonathan Monk envisioned creating a series of pieces he, as the artist, had never laid eyes on. An early version of this piece was made up of 80 black and white photographic prints found by Monk’s assistant at a flea market in Berlin. The artist states “I have never seen them and never will.” The present lot consists of similarly found images, unseen by the artist, that depict everyday scenes ranging from snorkeling with turtles to remote campsites to family portraits. This collection of anonymous sitters lensed by unknown photographers serves as a window into discarded memories— about which we can only speculate.
Since the late 1980s, Monk has been replaying, recasting, and re-examining seminal works of Conceptual and Minimal art. "Appropriation is something I have used or worked with in my art since starting art school in 1987. At this time (and still now) I realized that being original was almost impossible, so I tried using what was already available as source material for my own work." The sentiment that Monk expresses here is evident through the use of found images for his Unseen Unseen series. His deliberate choice to never view the artwork reinforces his exploration of these themes, underscoring his ongoing critique of artistic conventions.
