Jac Leirner Superstar Marilyn, 2020

Leirner's series of collages features superstars: famous actors of the 20th century, among them for example Marlon Brando, Ingrid Bergman, Charlie Chaplin, Rock Hudson, Marylin Monroe and Ginger Rogers. The collages consist of black and white portraits or film stills, on which pieces of paper or cardboard have been superimposed. Obscuring much of the image, the overlain forms are marked by pattern or repeated shapes. The defacement, quite literally covering most of the iconic faces, may be a reference both to the passing of these superstars—all are deceased—and to the fleeting nature of stardom and indeed existence.