DEBRIS.COMgood for a laugh, or possibly an aneurysm

To welcome its employees back to the company’s NYC headquarters after 9/11, American Express created in the building lobby an exhibition of 80 portraits by Annie Leibovitz. “The vision of Rewarding Lives is to embody the celebration of human accomplishment and the desire to reach one’s highest potential,” according to an AmEx press release.

Nearly all the accomplished humans in the exhibit are AmEx cardholders. In most cases, their cards are on display as well, with the account numbers tastefully obscured. (Sorry, but nobody is going out for a post-exhibit dinner on Kevin Bacon’s tab.) In one case this has the odd effect of demeaning the subjects: the caption on a portrait of four of the titans of American filmmaking names only Spielberg, Lucas, and Scorsese, apparently because, as Jean Schiffman notes in the NYT Arts Monthly, Francis Ford Coppola “leaves home without it.”

The environment of the exhibit is as much a part of the experience as the portraits. Learn about it at the design firm’s interactive tour.

Some of Leibovitz’ portraits have become as well-known as the celebrities they portray. Seeing so many together in one place induced cultural overload, sort of like playing a Beatles greatest hits album. How can one artist be this good?

My favorite image in the show is Leibovitz’ portrait of Steve Martin. I feel like I should explain why, but, really, the image speaks for itself.

Read more about the exhibit in The Lens of Annie Leibovitz.

See the exhibit through December 1 at Fort Mason in San Francisco.