Little Children VII

Jeff Wall makes conscious reference to the history of art with his series of nine roundels, or tondi, depicting children of various racial or ethnic origins. In this light box, the young boy is "lightly monumentalized", seen from below against a background of cloudy, turbulent skies. We as adults look up to the child in a conscious changing of roles. "The celestial void is the home of angels or putti," Wall explains. They are "infant beings without family, who emanate directly from God in infinite numbers at every second of endless time." The nine roundels of the series were originally conceived to be included in 'The Children's Pavilion', a joint effort by Wall and his New York based colleague and friend Dan Graham. The pavilion was contrived as a kind of Pantheon for a future "nation of children" based on multicultural accord and mutual respect. "The tondo form," Wall argues, "is associated with ceremonial and decorative portraits and figure-groups often featuring women, children and angels; but it is also related to coins, on which the heads of rulers are minted. The circular form also relates to the sphere, and therefore to the symbol of the cosmos, but also to a rubber ball flying through the air above a playground. Balls, bubbles, lollipops and other round, shiny, happy forms are parts of the world of toys which are vehicles in adventure fantasies." (D. Graham and J. Wall 'The Children's Pavilion', Parkett, no.22, 1989. p.68.)