Hannes Schmid, “American Myth: Paintings and Photographs”

A Swiss-born photographer whose career included assignments for major magazines and Madison Avenue, Hannes Schmid achieved art-world recognition for two things: His cowboy photos for Marlboro cigarettes, and for having those same images ripped off by Richard Prince. Unlike other victims of Prince’s penchant for intellectual property theft, Schmid elected not sue for copyright. The choice seemed to pay off as Schmid’s original work is now being collected by museums, but he had a final riposte to Prince: Turning his Marlboro Man photos into Photorealistic paintings. The results shown here evince an almost head spinning squaring of the circle, in which Schmid re-appropriates his own material to reaffirm his claim on it.