Since the mid 90s, Candice Breitz (b. 1972, Johannesburg) has explored the question of the construction of personal and collective identity. While her early works mainly focused on racial and sexual identity, the question of the impact of popular culture rapidly appeared as a dominant element in her practice. Breitz’s photos and video installations are based on methods which recall forms of montage employed in the domains of music and literature, such as cut-up and sampling.

Through the Monuments series of photographs, Candice Breitz is concerned more precisely with relations that link the fans to their idols. The large-format photographic portraits present “families” of fans, contacted through small ads and brought together by Breitz in Berlin to celebrate their respective idols: Marilyn Manson, Britney Spears, Abba, Iron Maiden and Grateful Dead.