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Artist or Maker: ALEX PRAGER

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Provenance:  Michael Hoppen Gallery, London

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Notes: A self-taught photographer inspired by Eggleston to pursue the medium, Alex Prager's cinematic and darkly playful characters inhabit a world of her creation. Photographing her female subjects such as Desiree from her Big Valley series in a eerie style reminiscent of film directors from Hitchcock to David Lynch, Prager's girls are temptresses that could incite danger at any moment. Shot from extreme angles and dramatically lit, she creates the sense there is action preceding and following the captured frame that we are not privy to, luring the viewer into the heroine's own moment of intrigue or peril. On the surface her models appear polished and confectionery but something is amiss, creating a utopia sprung with tension with the audience as voyeurs. Prager has already established her signature style - a highly saturated naive colour palette, synthetic wigs, retro costumes, and meticulously placed subjects in Californian environs. Her work  has been included in over 20 exhibitions worldwide as well as publications including i-D, Flaunt, Complex, Elle Japan, MOJO and Rolling Stone.