Sally Davies

Painting number 413, 1994

Sally Davies (Canadian, born 1956), Painting number 413, 1994, acrylic on canvas, 42 x 28 in. Schwartz Art Collection, Harvard Business School, 1998.6. © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.

"Images are selected from all walks of life and society, ranging from art to food, from fashion to furniture. My paintings are numbered, signed, copyrighted, and dated to emphasize that these are also products that play into our cultural value sytem....These paintings are meant to question our sense of value, our obsession with consumerism and what initiates our desires. I paint an image of a product, an object which has become fetishized by contemporary culture, and I add promotional text. Through owning these objects we think we can improve our social position, attract a certain upwardly mobile kind of crowd, even help define our spiritual destination. How and why do we need these materials things to exist, and to become successful in this society?"—Sally Davies