Miles Aldridge: I Only Want You to Love Me, a retrospective of the internationally renowned British artist’s cinematic fashion-based work. The 20 large-scale color photographs in the exhibition present a satirical, darkly humorous view of women, fashion, and commodification today. Aldridge creates an entirely believable world just slightly beyond our own: hyper-sexualized, hyper-materialistic, and full of dread. Think Stepford Wives on acid.
In Miles Aldridge: I Only Want You to Love Me the viewer is transported to a fantastically opulent dreamlike world populated by beautiful flawlessly dressed women playing stereotypical female roles, such as ‘secretary,’ ‘soccer mom,’ ‘housewife,’ and ‘vamp.’ But there is something wrong in these meticulously composed scenes. Aldridge’s women are strangely disengaged. It is as if the pressure of being an object of desire 24/7 has become too much to endure. They are on the verge of nervous breakdowns. What to buy, how to afford it, how to do it all? Why does my daughter hate me, will he still love me tomorrow, why am I knifing this cake??
