Annette Kelm Reading a Book about Robert Stacy-Judd, 2006

Annette Kelm's work depicts a room with large ornaments on the wall in Aztec-Mayan style and with various pieces of furniture, a sofa, armchairs, tables and chairs and a sideboard on which two traditional stringed instruments are placed. A woman wearing a straw hat can be seen from behind sitting on the sofa, absorbed in a book. The title, Reading a Book about Robert Stacey-Judd, suggests that the book that the person in the image may in fact be reading about the British-born architect and writer Stacey-Judd. The surroundings, with their distinctive forms, give another clue, as Stacey-Judd famously worked with neo-Mayan stylistic elements.

Robert Stacey-Judd moved to Los Angeles, California in late 1922, where he remained for the duration of his career. After coming to Los Angeles, he designed churches as well as theaters, hotels, and other commercial buildings in the style of Mayan Revival architecture, which he helped popularize in the 1920s and 1930s. Stacy-Judd's stylistic synthesis of elements from Mayan architecture, Aztec architecture, and Art Deco set standards in the development of this style.

Ultimately, it remains unclear from looking at the image where the picture was taken and whether it was staged or is documenting a found scene. This notion of openness is firmly anchored in Annette Kelm's pictorial worlds - signs and motifs are recognizable, but their meaning remains fluid and unfixed.