International Design

New York-based artist Elaine Kaufmann creates a series of arresting pencil drawings that connect the fantasies of first-world affluence with the production of third-world poverty. Conflating poverty with luxury and decay with beauty, Kaufmann’s works speak to the problematic representation of economic desires as described by the mass media. The arrangement of her drawings on the gallery walls subtly mimic the formal layouts of magazine or newspaper spreads. Kaufmann’s drawings draw attention to the physical act of reading and the complex relationships that exist between text and image.