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Alex Prager

Western Mechanics

Seoul

May 9–Jun 22, 2024

Photograph by Alex Prager

213 Itaewon-ro, Yongsan-gu

Seoul, 04349

Lehmann Maupin is pleased to present Western Mechanics, Alex Prager’s first exhibition with Lehmann Maupin in Seoul and her 8th solo exhibition with the gallery. The exhibition debuts a new body of photographic works that eschew linear narrative and instead focus on the presentation of emotionally charged vignettes. Her photographs, rich in cultural references and historical allegory, offer multiple entry points into evocative and imaginative worlds. Probing liminal space, Prager’s saturated frames examine the human condition and contemporary experience. Imbued with similar themes, Prager created Western Mechanics in tandem with the production of her first feature film, DreamQuil, which will explore the rise of technology and the decline of natural order. Concurrent to Western Mechanics, Prager’s commissioned installation Play the Wind (2019) is on view nearby on the exterior of Hyundai Card’s Music Library in Seoul. Unveiled in 2020, the installation will remain on view through 2025. Additionally, Prager was recently commissioned by LAX to create a short-form film for the airport’s internal electric train system, which will debut in 2025.

Working simultaneously across film, photography, and sculpture, Prager constructs highly emotional moments that feel like a fabricated memory or dream. Her distinctive use of archetypes, everyday objects, humor, and allegory—along with her signature technicolor facades—allow her to explore dark and complex topics. Existential concerns are central to her practice, including collective and individual identities and the impact of technology on society. Like the psychological works of artists including Edward Hopper, August Sanders, and Bill Viola, Prager’s work invites the viewer to contemplate the human experience by revealing that the extraordinary lurks within the ordinary.

Installation view of Alex Prager at Lehmann Maupin Seoul
Installation Views: 1 of 4
Photograph by Alex Prager

Alex Prager

Paper Street, 2023

Photograph by Alex Prager

Alex Prager

Hollywood (Day), 2024

Photograph by Alex Prager

Alex Prager

Hollywood (Night), 2024

Installation view of Alex Prager at Lehmann Maupin Seoul
Installation Views: 1 of 4
Photograph by Alex Prager

Alex Prager

California, 2024

Photograph by Alex Prager

Alex Prager

Western Mechanics, 2024

Photograph by Alex Prager

Alex Prager

California, Too, 2024

Photograph by Alex Prager

Alex Prager

Jean, 2024

Photograph by Alex Prager

Alex Prager

Colossus, 2024

Photograph by Alex Prager

Alex Prager

Hollywood (Exit), 2024

Portrait of Alex Prager

Alex Prager (b. 1979, Los Angeles, CA; lives and works in Los Angeles, CA) is an American artist, director and screenwriter based in Los Angeles. Prager is known for her uncanny images and films that blur the line between artifice and reality to explore the human condition. Prager has spent over two decades honing her signature style, which draws on traditional movie making techniques from golden-era period styles (like film noir and Technicolor), classical mythology, and the allegorical works of Dutch Renaissance painters Hieronymus Bosch and Pieter Brugel. Over time, large-scale productions have become synonymous with her work.

Working simultaneously across film, photography, and sculpture, Prager constructs highly emotional moments that feel like a fabricated memory or dream. Her distinctive use of archetypes, everyday objects, humor, and allegory—along with her signature technicolor facades—allow her to explore dark and complex topics. Existential concerns are central to her practice, including collective and individual identities and the impact of technology on society. Like the psychological works of artists including Alfred Hitchcock, Edward Hopper, Pipilotti Rist, August Sanders, and Bill Viola, Prager’s work invites the viewer to contemplate the human experience by revealing that the extraordinary lurks within the ordinary.

Learn about the artist