Childish Things: Photographs

Santa Monica, CA: Santa Monica Press, 2004. 96 pages, 61 colour illustrations; 26 cm. Firm binding, clean inside copy. "Taking the position that lost and abandoned toys retain repressed memories of prepubescent trauma and the deep-seated guilt associated with the playing of forbidden games, the photographic team of Davis & Davis have created staged images of mini-psychodramas using forlorn toys to portray the conflicted children who left them behind. In scenes such as a little boy stuck atop a teeter-totter and a baby falling out of a window while its father rushes to try and catch it, they explore the darker side of humanity, deflate the cherished myth of innocence, and point out that not even children are untainted and sinless. / Davis & Davis, also known as Denise and Scott Davis, are a married professional photographic team. In addition to a recent solo show at the Heather Marx Gallery in San Francisco, they have exhibited at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, the Downey Museum of Art, and the Huntington Beach Art Center. Their work is in the collections of California State University, California State Polytechnic University, Cypress College, and the Kinsey Research Institute. They live in Los Angeles. Tyler Stallings is the curator of exhibitions at the Laguna Art Museum. He is the coeditor of Uncontrollable Bodies: Testimonies of Identity and Culture. He lives in Southern California." - Publisher.. 1st. Paperback. Fine. 4to. Collectible.