ROBERT POLIDORI, Kuwait Exchange #1, Kuwait City, K

Kuwait Exchange #1, Kuwait City, Kuwait, 2007
Fujicolor Crystal Archive print. 57 7/8 x 40 5/8 in. (147 x 103.2 cm). Signed in ink, printed title, date and number 5/10 on a gallery label affixed to the reverse of the flush-mount.
PROVENANCE Edwynn Houk Gallery, New York; to the present Private Collection, New York

At first glance, the cluttered presence of erratically moving individuals at the Kuwait Stock Exchange appears to contradict Robert Polidori's former bodies of work, famous for the timeless feel created by the void of human figures. However, it is upon closer inspection that viewers learn of how this image neatly fits within Polidori's oeuvre: the absence of any women and the monochromatic robes attest to a centuries-old tradition in which the delegation of professional roles is largely premised on gender, and class differences are almost fully obliterated through uniform self-presentation. The unwavering history of these cultural norms removes the false sense of immediacy and temporality the image originally created. Therefore, viewers are left with an image depicting an eternal social structure that has defined the region far before its capturing by Polidori, and likely to persist long after.