Elena Dorfman
Pleasure Park Horse #7
Limited edition digital C-print mounted on aluminum, 50 x 37 inches

Elena Dorfman
Pleasure Park Horse #5
Limited edition digital C-print mounted on aluminum, 50 x 37 inches

Elena Dorfman's Pleasure Park Series: The Horses 

The photographs are large in scale, printed on aluminum, and each features an individual horse, alone in a studio-like setting wearing traditional equestrian accoutrements such as masks and blinders. Ms. Dorfman places the horses in a setting devoid of visual cues, isolating the horse, and thereby questioning its traditional symbolism. At the track, expectations of the horse and rider are of athleticism, sexuality, power, and performance but Ms. Dorfman's photographs show the vulnerability and fetishism of the horse - the same issues humans are faced with in a society that worships commodity culture and winning at all costs.
 
Pleasure Park : The Horses, was recently shown at Modernism, San Francisco. The series is on loan to the Ann Tower Gallery from 21C Museum's permanent collection in Louisville, where it was on display at Proof on Main from April 2009 through May 2010. The gallery will order limited edition prints for interested patrons.
 
Ms. Dorfman divides her time between Los Angeles and New York.

Click here to read the artist's statement and bio information