Artist: Jennifer Steinkamp
Title: Ronnie Reagan
Date: 2009
Dimensions: 3.3 - 4 feet wide x 2.5 - 3 feet high, projector sits back 7 - 9 feet.
Photo Credit: Robert Wedemeyer, Courtesy ACME, Los Angeles
Description: This piece is a small study for a larger installation at the UCLA Ronald Reagan Hospital. I was researching Ronald Reagan's medical history and came across this information about his eyesight: As a child, Reagan would have to sit in the front row in class to see, which embarrassed him. In sports, Reagan sometimes got hit in the head with the ball he could not see. It was only at age 9 or 10 that a visiting nurse made a diagnosis of nearsightedness. Reagan later said that when he got glasses, he was surprised to discover that trees had leaves and that butterflies existed -- neither of which he had ever been able to see.
Exhibition History:
- Prescriptions, ACME, Los Angeles, April 25 - May 23, 2009, curated by Dean Anes and Randy Sommer.
- Arte Portugal, Lisbon, Portugal, July 15 - August 16, 2010, curated by Paul Young and Fred Hoffman.
