BARNEY, Matthew. (American, b. 1967). CREMASTER 5. [N.p., 1997]. Screenprint and offset lithograph numbered "186/250." Embossed stamping, as issued. Signed in the lower right in pencil by Barney. A striking image of actress Ursula Andress in costume laid out as mirror-image, similar to that of a playing card. 

Sight 22 1/2 x 32 1/2". Matted and framed to an overall size of 32 x 42".

Matthew Barney’s CREMASTER cycle (1994–2002) is a self-enclosed aesthetic system consisting of five feature-length films that explore processes of creation. The cycle unfolds not just cinematically but also through the photographs, drawings, sculptures, and installations the artist produces in conjunction with each episode. Its conceptual departure point is the male cremaster muscle, which controls testicular contractions in response to external stimuli. The project is rife with anatomical allusions to the position of the reproductive organs during the embryonic process of sexual differentiation: CREMASTER 1 (1995) represents the most “ascended” or undifferentiated state; CREMASTER 5 (1997), the most “descended” or differentiated. The cycle repeatedly returns to those moments during early sexual development in which the outcome of the process is still unknown—in Barney’s metaphoric universe, these moments represent a condition of pure potentiality. Set in Budapest, CREMASTER 5 is performed as an opera complete with Jacobin pigeons, a lovelorn queen, and her tragic hero. The narrative flows from the Hungarian State Opera House to the Gellért Baths, which is inhabited by water sprites frolicking in a pool of pearls. As the cycle’s concluding chapter, the film traces the story of final release, a physical transcendence that is misunderstood and mourned as loss.

Fine.