Barbara Norfleet

Central Receiver Test Facility, Sandia National Laboratories. Kirkland Air Force Base, Albuquerque, New Mexico 1988

Maker

Barbara Norfleet (American, b. 1926 b. Lakewood, New Jersey)

Title

Central Receiver Test Facility, Sandia National Laboratories. Kirkland Air Force Base, Albuquerque, New Mexico 1988
from the portfolio Landscape of the Cold War

Year

1988, printed 2005

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Dimensions

Image: 36.9 x 53.4 cm (14 1/2 x 21 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

n recto, inscribed "Central Receiver Test Facility, Sandia National Laboratories, Kirkland Air Force Base, Albuquerque, New Mexico 1988 " in ink at LL below image, signed in ink "Barbara Norfleet" below image in LR. Embossed with Palm Press logo at LR of sheet. On verso, inscribed "19/25" in graphite in LR.

Identification

Edition

19/25

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Partial gift of Gus and Arlette Kayafas, Mary Ann Lippitt Acquisition Fund

Object Number

2020.29.5

Type

Exhibition History

The Performative Self-Portrait
May 13, 2023 – Nov 12, 2023

Label copy

Standing with two friends and holding a camera up to her face, Barbara Norfleet resembles the average tourist on holiday. In this series, however, she seeks out sites with a more sinister past. The Landscape of the Cold War captures deteriorating structures that served militaristic purposes during the Cold War. The edifices that remain resemble the ruins of a bygone civilization. Norfleet’s approach is both uncanny and sardonic, underscoring our uncomfortable coexistence with this fraught of history.

–Matthew Kluk (Brown PhD 2025, History of Art and Architecture), RISD proctor 2021–2022

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Tombstone

Barbara Norfleet (American, b. 1926 b. Lakewood, New Jersey)
Central Receiver Test Facility, Sandia National Laboratories. Kirkland Air Force Base, Albuquerque, New Mexico 1988; from the portfolio Landscape of the Cold War, 1988, printed 2005
Gelatin silver print
Image: 36.9 x 53.4 cm (14 1/2 x 21 inches)
Partial gift of Gus and Arlette Kayafas, Mary Ann Lippitt Acquisition Fund 2020.29.5

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