Photograph, colour, chromogenic print, on paper
Tate Collection
Works with images
General Collection
Collection
Ricas y famosas
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/daniela-rossell-6237" aria-label="More by Daniela Rossell" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Daniela Rossell</a>
Presented by the Latin American Acquisitions Committee 2003
actions: postures and motions
adults
class
clothing and personal items
coat
consumerism
couch
decadence
doll
domestic
emotions, concepts and ideas
fine arts and music
formal qualities
furnishings
heating and lighting
interiors
light / lamp
living room
Mexican
nationality
objects
painting
people
photographic
sitting
social comment
society
toys and models
universal concepts
wallpaper
wealth
woman
<p>This large colour photograph was produced in an edition of three plus two artist’s proofs; Tate’s copy is second in the edition. The print belongs to the series <i>Rich and Famous</i> which comprises images made by Rossell between 1994 and 2002 depicting members of the wealthy Mexican ruling class. Most of the photographs in the series portray the wives and daughters of the moneyed elite in their own homes, palatial houses and apartments that betray their occupants’ opulent lifestyles and kitsch taste. The artist encouraged her sitters to pose as they desired, creating fantasy images complete with extravagant costumes and props. The performative aspect of the photographs is heightened by their theatrical settings.</p>
paper print photograph colour chromogenic
15 October 2005 – 26 March 2006
2006-03-26
15 October 2005 – 15 January 2006
2006-01-15
2005-10-15
Tate Liverpool (Liverpool, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/liverpool/
2005-10-15
Inverting the Map: Latin American Art from the Tate Collection
Collection based display
20 February 2009 – 14 April 2009
2009-04-14
11 February 2009 – 26 April 2009
2009-04-26
2009-02-11
Leeds Art Gallery (Leeds, UK)
http://www.leeds.gov.uk/artgallery/
15 May 2009 – 11 July 2009
2009-07-11
2009-05-15
Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art (Sunderland, UK)
24 July 2009 – 5 September 2009
2009-09-05
2009-07-24
Grundy Art Gallery (Blackpool, UK)
2009-02-20
Rank: Picturing the social order
Loan-out
Untitled
unconfirmed: 1270 × 1524 mm
Presented by the Latin American Acquisitions Committee 2003
<p>This large colour <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/photograph" title="Glossary definition for 'Photograph'"><span>photograph</span></a> was produced in an <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/e/edition" title="Glossary definition for 'Edition'"><span>edition</span></a> of three plus two artist’s proofs; Tate’s copy is second in the edition. The <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/print" title="Glossary definition for 'Print'"><span>print</span></a> belongs to the series <i>Rich and Famous</i> which comprises images made by Rossell between 1994 and 2002 depicting members of the wealthy Mexican ruling class. Most of the <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/photograph" title="Glossary definition for 'Photograph'"><span>photographs</span></a> in the series portray the wives and daughters of the moneyed elite in their own homes, palatial houses and apartments that betray their occupants’ opulent lifestyles and <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/k/kitsch" title="Glossary definition for 'Kitsch'"><span>kitsch</span></a> taste. The artist encouraged her sitters to pose as they desired, creating fantasy images complete with extravagant costumes and props. The performative aspect of the photographs is heightened by their theatrical settings.
<br/>
<br/>Rossell grew up in privileged circumstances in Mexico City and the subjects of <i>Rich and Famous</i> are her family members, friends and acquaintances. Many of the subjects are relatives of politicians who served under disgraced former President Carlos Salinas de Gortari (born 1948; President 1988-94), whose tenure was beset by allegations of political and financial corruption. The series has been read as an indictment of a pampered oligarchy in a country where poverty is rife. Rossell’s ambivalent relationship to her subjects and the free reign she gave them to express themselves have resulted in images which function simultaneously as a celebration and condemnation of hedonistic consumerism and eccentric individuality.
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<br/>This image depicts a young blonde woman sitting slumped with her legs apart surrounded by dolls on a long pink sofa in a chintzy interior. She is wearing a diamante tiara and a white fur jacket over a bright red low cut jumpsuit. The slashed trousers of the jumpsuit have been pulled up to reveal her legs. She stares defiantly at the camera, confronting the viewer with the scowl of a grumpy teenager.
<br/>
<br/>The wall behind the sofa is lined with floral pink wallpaper. A luridly coloured <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/l/landscape" title="Glossary definition for 'Landscape'"><span>landscape</span></a> <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/painting" title="Glossary definition for 'Painting'"><span>painting</span></a> in a carved gilt frame is flanked by two <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/r/rococo" title="Glossary definition for 'Rococo'"><span>rococo</span></a>-style <a class="glossarylinktopopup" data-gtm-destination="article-page" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="http://www.tate.org.uk/learn/online-resources/glossary/p/portrait" title="Glossary definition for 'Portrait'"><span>portraits</span></a> of young women, one of whom is pictured impassively ignoring the attentions of a suitor.  End tables to the left and right of the sofa are laden with photographs in ornate silver frames, porcelain figurines and large ceramic lamps. An elaborate flower arrangement rests on a coffee table in the foreground.
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<br/>The young woman in the photograph is the artist’s stepsister, who posed for several images in the <i>Rich and Famous</i> series. Unlike many of Rossell’s other sitters who unapologetically flaunt their extravagant lifestyles, her confrontational gaze suggests a more ambiguous relationship with wealth and privilege. Dressed in a tacky approximation of Hollywood glamour, she appears trapped in a gilded cage, angry at the role her place in society dictates she play.
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<br/>Rossell’s work can be seen in the ethnographic tradition of Latin American documentary photography, but whereas her predecessors including Manuel Álvarez Bravo (1902-2002) focussed their cameras on the underclass she lays bare the excesses of the super-rich. In their detailed depiction of a particular social stratum and their vibrant saturated colour, Rossell’s prints recall the work of British photographer Martin Parr (born 1952; see <i>Common Sense</i>, 1995-9, Tate <a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/parr-common-sense-p78371" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>P78371</span></a>).
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<br/><b>Further reading:</b>
<br/>Barry Schwabsky, <i>Daniela Rossell: Ricas y Famosas</i>, Madrid, 2002, unpaginated, reproduced in colour.
<br/>Klaus Biesenbach, Cuauhtémoc Medina, Patricia Martin and Guillermo Santamarina, <i>Mexico City: An Exhibition about the Exchange Rates of Bodies and Values</i>, exhibition catalogue, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, New York, 2002.
<br/>Julia Chaplin, ‘Las Mennas’, <i>V Magazine</i>, no.18, July/August 2002.
<br/>
<br/>Rachel Taylor
<br/>July 2004</p>

Summary
2005-09-15T00:00:00
summary
SHORT_TEXT
actions: postures and motions adults class clothing and personal items coat consumerism couch decadence doll domestic emotions, concepts and ideas fine arts and music formal qualities furnishings heating and lighting interiors light / lamp living room Mexican nationality objects painting people photographic sitting social comment society toys and models universal concepts wallpaper wealth woman