Endlessly repeated and based on a voided image, "Plaster Surrogates" further extends the line of thinking that runs through Allan
McCollum's "Surrogate Paintings" and "Glossies". While continuing to develop a symbol that could represent a work of art, McCollum
introduced mold making into the process, thus opening up the possibility of
even greater quantities of production. A collection of twenty "Surrogate
Paintings" of various sizes provided the template for the rubber molds
used to cast all the "Plaster Surrogates" to date. Originally conceived as individual works, in 1985 the artist began grouping the
wall-mounted sculptures into "collections" reminiscent of framed
pictures, diplomas, or other memorabilia. Each work is individually painted and
no combination of size and color is ever repeated, making each one unique. In a
sense, though, the "Plaster Surrogates" are symbols of symbols, and
mark the artist's first attempt to invent a sign that could represent any
manner of framed objects.

Alex Gartenfeld and
Stephanie Seidel (ed.), Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami 2021, exhib. cat.