The Frieze Art Fair 2007 recently opened in London.
Untitled (Original), by Richard Prince, commissioned by the Frieze Foundation, is arguably the centerpiece of the fair.
The work is an installation, consisting of a custom-made muscle car, displayed on a circular plinth, with a young female model, dressed in a light blue denim jacket, a fuschia bikini top, dark blue denim cut-off shorts, black army boots, and long black socks.
The work brilliantly comes together because the model is exceptionally well cast and costumed. She appears to be a typical Prince model, if there ever was one. She not only suits the aims of the installation, which intentionally references visual arts commerce, she also functions as a counterpoint to the kinds of models who appear in auto industry trade shows and custom car shows.
Who's the girl?
On artforum.com's Scene and Herd, she is identified as Karley Sciortino, a writer for Dazed and Confused.
I don't know how Prince found this model, but he's remarkably fortunate to have identified someone who is from upstate New York and living in London. According to her myspace page, Sciortino is originally from Highland, New York, and she is residing in South London.
To most art fair visitors, Sciortino simply plays the role quite well. (According to the web site of a community theater in Wappingers Falls, New York, she has some acting experience). However, it would be fair to say that Prince has been able to cast a "found model," one who comes from "Richard Prince Country," lives locally to the art fair, and writes for a contemporary culture publication, and he's recontexualized her within a particular work of art.
