Image scanned from a transparency and color-corrected by Pat Cagney. Photographed by Scott Wol…

Plant Mister

Artist Philip Ayers (American, born 1948)

Date1986

MediumOil on canvas

DimensionsOverall: 48 x 60 in. (121.9 x 152.4 cm)

ClassificationsContemporary art

Credit LineGift of the family of Joel B. Cooper, in memory of Mary and Dudley Cooper

Object number2002.26.1

Terms

Men
Women
Plants
Interiors
Building
House
Blue
Black
White
Red
Yellow
Green

On View

Not on view

DescriptionThis is an oil on canvas painting, divided into two scenes. On the left two businessmen, each dressed in a gray suit carrying a briefcase, arrive home from work. One has arrived at the front door. The yard is littered with trash, as is the surrounding landscape. In the distance generic high-rise buildings encroach on the remaining open land. In the scene on the right, an older man dressed in pants, forlornly stares at the water mister in his hands. Nearby, a withering houseplant is placed in the center of a sparsely furnished room. A woman turns her back and walks away into the kitchen. It is signed P. Ayres 1986 on a small paper near sprouting plant in the left foreground, and on the envelope on the table near the man holding the mister. Another signature appears on the studs between the walls. Also written on the letter on the table "They were those from the wilderness that had expected more." Repeated twice, and on the side of the letter "There were ghosts that return to hear his phrases."

Label TextPhilip Ayers American, b.1948 Plant Mister, 1986 Oil on canvas Like many other artists in the 1980s, Philip Ayers abandoned abstraction and returned to the tradition of painting the human figure and realist painting. This composition is divided into two different scenes. On the left, two businessmen, both dressed in a gray suit and carrying a briefcase, arrive at the front door of a home. The yard is littered with trash, as is the surrounding landscape. In the distance, generic high-rise buildings encroach upon the remaining open land. In the scene on the right, a half-dressed older man stares at the water mister in his hands. Nearby, in the center of a sparsely furnished room, is a withering houseplant. A woman turns her back on the man and walks away into the kitchen. The mood is one of alienation and desolation, condemning environmental pollution by the world of commerce. In memory of Mary and Dudley Cooper from the family of Joel B. Cooper 2002.26.1