"Criminals and celebrities were perfect for a 'gang' photo. It was so perfect. You could even turn the photographs upside down and sideways. It was definitely a mix. Making that 'gang' was like deejaying...Spinning the records. Dancing the picture."

Richard Prince has always gravitated toward repetition, groupings, and categories, and consistently produces his work in series. This sensibility has led him to cluster images that display certain similarities, in concept, composition, gesture, and/or subject—creating his own, very personal, collections. In 1984 he introduced into his work a new compositional format that demonstrated his interest in classifying the world as he sees it. Derived from a photo-lab technique of "ganging," or grouping, nine to twelve 35mm slides into a single internegative, which can be greatly enlarged when printed, Prince's Gangs are veritable archives of related images.

Formally, each Gang is a grid of individual photographs, the spaces between which are defined by the congruence of their slide mounts—clean white frames that physically and conceptually connect the content. This predetermined format proved to be an important step for Prince. It propelled him to expand his subject matter beyond the slick, luxury-good-laden lifestyle pedaled by the advertising industry to a much wider array of topics culled from mass culture.

While pursuing his passion for the published—which he has collected from used-book stores and flea markets as well as eBay and garbage dumpsters—Prince also encountered the world of celebrity memorabilia. He collects and arranges autographed 8 x 10 glossy publicity stills and frames them according to genre and type. Some are inscribed with authentic signatures, while others are clearly written in his own hand. As today's stars are no longer just movie actors, but also fashion models, socialites, musicians, and athletes, the range of subjects is ever expanding and reminds us how vulnerable we are to the cult of celebrity in all of its shallowness.

• Look carefully at Criminals and Celebrities. Describe what you see.
• Which images do you think are celebrities? Which do you think are criminals? What visual clues lead you to your conclusions?
• Prince rotates the images so that none of them have traditional orientations. Why might he have chosen to do this? Do you think it adds or detracts from the impact of the work? Explain.
• The artist said, "Criminals and celebrities were perfect for a 'gang' photo. It was so perfect." What qualities do you think he was referring to? What about these subjects might have appealed to Prince and led him to call them "perfect"?
• Prince likens his "gangs" to the practice of music sampling where segments are taken from original sound recordings and inserted in new recordings. Explain how he might be using this reference.

• Prince's Criminals and Celebrities was created in 1986. Create an updated version of this work using images found on the Internet or in magazines. What subjects do you think should be included and why? Once completed, share your work with your classmates and discuss your image choices and juxtapositions.
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• Flip through magazines looking for photographs to create your own "gang," a group of nine images that have something in common. Use a digital camera to photograph the images you have chosen. (Remember to turn off the flash.) An easy way to simulate Prince's approach is to import your photos into a PowerPoint presentation and print them out as "handouts" choosing the "9 per page" option.
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• In the 1980s, when Prince was creating his earliest Gangs, he searched through magazines looking for images that had formal or thematic similarities. Today the Internet provides search engines that will instantly bring images related by theme to your fingertips. Using a search engine such as Google, choose a theme—for instance, "hands"—and do an image search from which you can create your own "gang." When finished, discuss your choices. How does creating a gang of photos differ from presenting a single image?
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• Prince’s Publicities are frequently grouped according to formal relationships—for example, people with teased, blonde hair (Darryl Hannah, Debbie Harry, Jonathan Rhys Myers, Kiefer Sutherland, and Kim Wilde) or men with eye patches (Martin Kippenberger and Kurt Russell). Choose your own unifying criteria to create a “publicity.” Share your work with your classmates and discuss whether it was easy or difficult for them to determine the common characteristic.
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