Ira Nowinski 1975

Mike Mandel made this photograph of Ira Nowinski as part of a series of baseball-style trading cards depicting artists in the 1970s. The project cleverly uses the visual language of sports memorabilia to consider the role of artists in contemporary culture. The image is designed to mimic the visual codes of a classic baseball card, with the name displayed prominently at the bottom. Nowinski is shown wearing a baseball cap and a patterned shirt, his gaze directed off-camera. This creates a sense of him as a public figure, but also invites the viewer to consider the individual behind the image. Mandel made this work in the United States, during a time of significant social and cultural change. By appropriating the format of the baseball card, he asks us to consider the value we place on different kinds of cultural figures and institutions. The beauty of art history lies in the contextual research that we undertake. Looking at the archives of the time, reading interviews, and understanding the prevailing social attitudes can all help us to interpret the meanings of this artwork.