James Welling (b. 1951) is an American conceptual artist known for his experimental and pioneering photographic practice. By constantly pushing the boundaries of the conceptual, aesthetic, and technical processes of photography, Welling helped to expand the potential of the medium.

Throughout his oeuvre, Welling has explored different photographic mediums including gelatin prints, Polaroids, digital prints, and photograms. He's worked in analog and digital, in color and black & white, and produced photographic images both with and without a camera. Welling's tireless exploration is driven by his investigation of the tension between abstraction and representation (or documentary photography).

He has employed draped fabrics, pastry dough, and window screens to play with color and dimension. Ultimately, his desire is to engage and exceed the physiological capabilities of the human eye.

“Untitled (42)” is an edition in Welling's seminal breakthrough "Aluminum Foil" series (1980-81), wherein he played with the surface qualities of the common household item aluminum foil. As demonstrated in this work, the result is an intensely-detailed, scientific-looking documentary photograph that recalls detailed images of the moon, crystal formations, and other natural phenomena.

Welling's works can be found in the permanent collections of the Los Angeles County Museum (LACMA), the Guggenheim Museum (NY), the Tate Modern (London), the Centre Pompidou (Paris), the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), and the Whitney Museum (NY), among many others.

This limited edition print was included in a 1993 portfolio by October Magazine alongside works by Richard Prince, Cindy Sherman and more.